


The Royal Test

by silveradept



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Abusive Parents, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Identity Reveal, F/M, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth Identity Reveal, Identity Reveal, Living Down To Your Reputation, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Identity Reveal, Songfic, The A+ Parenting of Nathalie Sancoeur, The A++ Parenting of Gabriel Agreste
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-09 15:11:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20996870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silveradept/pseuds/silveradept
Summary: It only takes a spark to set off events that cannot be wound back. The unexpected loss of someone dear sends dominoes down. At the very end, only the strongest survive to begin climbing up again.





	1. The Path to Isolation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AlexSeanchai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexSeanchai/gifts), [GalahadWilder](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalahadWilder/gifts).

> The inspirations for this work: [GalahadWilder's 'New Fic Idea'](https://galahadwilder.tumblr.com/post/185091564278/new-fic-idea), [AlexSeanchai's 'Free to Good Home' prompt](https://alexseanchai.tumblr.com/post/185639833500/prompt-free-to-a-good-home), and [Kyrart's 'The Royal Test'](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Uzx4E4kvuE)
> 
> All chapter titles are song titles for the playlist for this fic, in order. All come from the soundtracks of the web show RWBY, and are by Casey Lee and/or Jeff Williams, if disambiguation is needed.
> 
> The version of this work with the work skin off is built to make the work accessible to persons with screen readers. For the intended visual presentation, please turn work skins on for this work.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette figures it out.

Lyric: It starts with the unexpected loss of something dear…

Narrative: "I really won't be able to attend. I'm sorry," Adrien apologized. "Father scheduled a photo shoot for me in Milan this weekend."

"Was that before or after you said that I was celebrating my birthday this weekend, dude?" Nino inquired.

"It's been planned for a while," Adrien temporized. "I must have forgotten about it on my schedule."

"Dude," Nino said. "If it was on your schedule, someone else in this conversation would be packing your lunch for the trip."

Marinette turned scarlet. "Nino's right, Adrien," she said. "Your friends would want to talk to you before you disappeared for the weekend. I’d ask you to bring things back for them, if you could."

Lyric: The warmth that comforted and cradled just disappears.

Narrative: "S-sorry," Adrien said, clenching his hands together. "I must have forgotten to update my website or something."

Marinette looked ready to start again, but Nino clamped a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head, asking 'what the hell?' with her eyebrows. Nino gave a nearly-imperceptible shake of his own head.

"We're not angry at you, Adrien," he said brightly, removing his hand from Marinette. "We're upset with the person that thinks it's appropriate to make you work so hard on the weekends."

Marinette caught on. "Yeah," she said. "You need time off, too, so you can be a kid."

Lyric: And in its place, there's nothing. Just an endless, empty, hole.

Narrative: "There are some breaks scheduled," Adrien said. "It'll be nice to see Milan again."

"Again?" Marinette prompted.

"Yeah," Adrien said, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "We grew up there. I don't remember a lot about it."

The light that showed the way is gone, and darkness takes control.

Narrative: "Did you ever meet anyone famous there when you were small?" Nino asked.

"Huh?" Adrien replied.

"Yeah, dude! There have to have been some models or designers that were really active in Milan about the time you would have been growing up there. You probably would have seen someone at least once."

Adrien looked confused. "I don't remember any of that," he said, shaking his head. "Of course, I don't remember much of anything about my childhood. Some things with Mom, a few with Father, and...yeah, not a whole lot more than that."

"That's weird," Nino said. "Maybe you can ask your dad about it on the way there."

Adrien laughed. "You know how hard it is to get Father to talk about anything," he said, making it sound like it was a joke. "I really should be going now, though. Just because I'm going somewhere doesn't mean my lessons are going to stop, and I still need to pack."

"Have fun in Milan! We'll see you soon!" Marinette called cheerfully.

Lyric: Bitterness and anger are quick to fill the void. The path to isolation is littered with the dreams that lay destroyed.

Narrative: When Adrien was out of sight, Marinette and Nino turned to face each other.

Lyric: The cold seems to grow in my soul. It's consuming me.

Narrative: "What was that, Nino? You were right there with me pushing back and then you flipped. What happened?" Marinette said, fire blazing back into her eyes.

"You noticed, right, dude?" Nino replied.

Lyric: Confused, and I'm losing my way in the storm.

Narrative: "That Adrien stuttered? Yes. He looked like a cornered cat, desperately trying to find a way to get away. Something's wrong, Nino."

Lyric: Growing jaded, being pushed, being pulled, I'm unraveling.

Narrative: "He's always been like that when he talks about his dad, Marinette. His dad's strict with him."

"So strict, remember, that _you_ got akumatized because he refused to let you throw Adrien a birthday party! What kind of father doesn't want his son to be happy and have friends?"

Nino shrugged. "Lots of parents want to keep tabs on their kids. His dad takes it more seriously than most."

"Not to this degree! And furthermore, didn't you notice Adrien didn't actually offer his opinion on anything we discussed? He was perfectly fine with going along with whatever we were talking about or planning on doing, until something he's more afraid of got in the way!"

Lyric: Can't find myself when I'm constantly forced to conform.

Narrative: "Afraid is a pretty strong word, dude. Adrien's pretty easygoing about things."

Marinette reached into her purse and pulled out her phone, thrusting the screen in front of Nino's face.

" 'Extreme passivity is a potential sign of abuse,' " he read. " 'A victim becomes conditioned to believe their opinion doesn't matter, because their abuser will do whatever they planned on doing, even if they asked their victim about it beforehand.

" 'Sometimes abusers condition their victims not to do anything independently by exploding at the smallest of perceived infractions or requiring their victims to do something over again 'properly', even if there's no apparent difference between the "improper" and "proper" versions.' " Nino looked up at Marinette. "What kind of websites have you been reading?"

"The ones that Alya has been not-so-subtly throwing our way since she started suspecting, I think. I can't believe it's taken me this long to notice!" Marinette said. "Think about it, Nino!"

Lyric: Enemies surround me, but the worst appear as friends. Liars and pretenders only seek to reach their ends. Everything is breaking, right before my eyes! Looking in the mirror, I see someone that I don't recognize!

Narrative: "We think this is normal, because we've only ever seen Adrien like this. But it's not. It's not normal, Nino. Something is _wrong_ with Adrien."

Lyric: The joy that my heart used to know is eluding me.

Narrative: Nino put his hands up and backed off. "Wait, Marinette." He sighed, putting his fingers on the bridge of his nose.

Lyric: Removed, and the one thing I feel is alone.

Narrative: "Let me level with you, dude. We've been waiting for Adrien to get on board with this idea for years. If Adrien ever breathed a word about how he was being treated at home that sounded like something the police could use to press charges, the whole class would escort him to the station."

Lyric: Smile's faded, and I'm spinning and sinking. I'm weakening. Frozen in solitude, loneliness chills to the bone.

Narrative: "He hasn't done it yet. I don't know why, or what his reasons are," Nino continued, cutting off Marinette's protest. "Sabrina thinks it's because being a minor with no parents would put him in a worse situation than what he's got now."

"…she's got a point," Marinette fumed, and then paled. The beginning of a terrible idea was forming in her head, and she didn't want to follow it to its conclusion.

Lyric: Memories escaping as my heart begins to drain. Scars that cover wounds can't hide the self-inflicted pain.

Narrative: "Has Adrien always had bad memory?" Marinette asked.

Nino considered the question.

"Selectively," he concluded. "He can rip through whatever Mme. Mendeleiev throws at him without blinking. Sometimes things like this happen, where he 'forgets' something that just happened, but he doesn't want to say that."

Marinette shivered. Nothing Nino was saying was proving her hypothesis wrong.

Lyric: Everything my mind wants, in conflict with my heart. Fighting back surrender, but everyday I'm falling more apart.

Narrative: "If you ask him about his childhood, he can't remember a thing. Which is really odd, because he probably would have seen all sorts of people all the time, or at least known about them, but he swears the first time he remembers seeing most famous fashion people is when he came to Paris. He wouldn't have a reason to lie about it to anyone, as best I know." Nino shrugged.

"Like, welcome to the conspiracy, dude, but there's not much we can do until Adrien's ready to take action." Nino offered her a fist to bump. "I'll let everyone know you're in."

With a sickening certainty, the last piece of the puzzle slid into place. All the evidence was too much for Marinette to ignore.

Unlike Nino, however, she _can_ act. It's her duty to rid Paris of evil, and she's let this one hurt her friends for far too long.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm in."

Lyric: Mirror, what's this thing I see?  
Who is staring back at me?  
A stranger to my heart has filled my mind!  
Mirror, _help me_! Who am I?


	2. Mirror, Mirror, Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien finds out Gabriel is gone, but Chat Noir and Ladybug have to deal with something before he can fully process it.

Narrative: Adrien sat up, tossed from his sleep by the thunderclap receding into the distance. Once his senses came back to him, he realized Plagg wasn’t sleeping on him.

A few seconds later, Adrien has also realized the Gorilla is standing next to his bed, probably sent in to wake him up for the early train trip.

"Adrien," Nathalie's voice said from the hallway. "We have to go. **_Now_**."

Nathalie sounded afraid.

Nathalie _never_ sounds afraid.

"What's happened?" Adrien asked, immediately alert.

"We need to get you somewhere safe," Nathalie said, stepping into the room. She turned to the Gorilla. "Get him dressed and go. Don't stop for anything until Adrien is secure."

Nathalie left as quickly as she came. Adrien thought he heard her getting ready to cry. Before he could think too much about it, though, the Gorilla threw clothes at him and finished zipping up the luggage he was going to take to Milan.

"What happened?" Adrien asked.

The Gorilla shook his head and pointed toward the back of the house.

"Tell me what's happened," Adrien demanded.

“Later,” the Gorilla signed quickly and dismissively. “Safety now. Quiet. Get dressed.”

While he was glad that his LSF studies were working, nothing that had happened since he'd been awakened made Adrien any less worried about his situation. Whatever it was, it had driven Nathalie to the point of tears and rattled the Gorilla. Something terrible had happened, and nobody wanted to tell him what.

The Gorilla tossed his luggage in the trunk of the car, gestured for Adrien to get in the backseat, and started driving as soon as Adrien was secured.

As they pulled away from the house, Adrien heard the sounds of emergency sirens coming from the opposite direction.

Adrien knew he wouldn't be able to get anything out of the Gorilla while he was driving. The man was very conscientious about keeping his hands on the wheel. Which conveniently prevented him from talking at all about what was going on.

Now that he had the time to think about it, there was still one person in the house that he hadn't seen or heard from in all of this. It wasn't unusual that Father hadn't said anything to him, but it was unusual that he wasn't in the car with him. Father didn't usually let Adrien go out without him, and he was usually waiting for him in the car by the time Adrien got there.

Where was Father? Had something happened to him?

Adrien slipped his phone out of his pocket. It was a long shot, but it was worth trying. He dialed his father.

Voicemail. That was normal. He called Nathalie next. Also voicemail. That wasn't. The sirens might have been for the mansion. If that was the case, Nathalie was probably still dealing with whatever it was.

The Gorilla pulled into traffic. He was never reckless, but Adrien could feel they were driving much faster than the Gorilla usually went. Like they were trying to get away from something.

Nathalie had been on the verge of tears. And insistent that Adrien get somewhere safe immediately. Something bad had happened. Knowing Father, it probably meant Gabriel Fashions had finally aggravated the wrong designer and the company was going to be sued into the ground for discrimination, or unsafe work conditions, or some other thing that had been covered up for decades and was now being brought to light. It would give Father a much-needed dose of humility to have to build his brand back up. And it would give Adrien a much-needed break from all his modeling shoots while Father had to defend himself in court.

Nathalie had probably sent him away so he didn't have to watch his father get put in handcuffs. Adrien would have liked to see that, actually. The high and mighty Gabriel Agreste brought back to earth.

They stopped a little ways out of town at an inn that Adrien knew, from experience, had no Wi-Fi nor enough mobile signal. Father liked it as a hideaway when he felt Adrien needed to focus on important things. Which meant, whatever had happened, he wouldn't hear about it until the morning. The best thing to do would be to try and get some sleep.

The Gorilla was on edge, though. Rather than seeing him tucked in and retreating to another room, the Gorilla took the chair at the office and settled in, not taking his eyes off him.

"What happened to my father?" Adrien asked, his hands forming the question in LSF as he spoke.

The Gorilla shook his head. “Not speculating.”

Adrien hissed. "Why is everyone treating me like I'm a child?" he snapped, his hands cutting large jagged swaths through the air. "If some disaster has befallen the almighty Agreste patriarch, it probably means I'm going to have to have a press conference and field questions and it would _help_ if I _knew_ what was _happening_."

The Gorilla winced.

The Gorilla had heard worse from him, and stronger language as well, and it hadn't appeared to affect him at all. Something was _very_ wrong.

“You'll know soon enough,” the Gorilla responded, a concerned look on his face. “Sleep first.”

He didn't want to sleep with so few answers, but the day's exhaustion from school and modeling (and a patrol with Ladybug) and this midnight adventure caught up with him, and soon it was morning.

When the Gorilla drove him back within cell range, his phone buzzed nearly continuously for several minutes, registering several text messages. They all had a consistent message—_we're sorry for your loss_.

Adrien immediately pulled up news sites to confirm what the implication was. It was all over the news.

"Fashion Mogul Brutally Murdered In Own Home."

Lyric: Mirror, tell me something. Tell me: "Who's the loneliest of all?"

Narrative: "Agreste Murderer Still At Large, Police Have No Leads."

"Ding Dong, The Bitch Is Dead." That site claimed to have leaked photographs of the "grisly murder scene."

Adrien backed out of that one before seeing if their claim was true. The descriptions he'd read on the other sites were terrible enough.

> According to police reports, early this morning, an unknown intruder entered the Agreste mansion and proceeded to murder Gabriel Agreste.
> 
> Crime scene photographs submitted to news sites by anonymous sources indicate Gabriel Agreste was stabbed to death.

Other sites were talking about the 'manifesto' left behind by the murderer. It took a little searching to find it:

> Whomever did it left a message with M. Agreste: 'One by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls.' What did the killer mean by that? And if your friend's story is right about being stabbed through the eye, what does that mean?

Adrien stared at his phone in horror, the reality of the situation sinking in. No wonder Nathalie had been so worried. Father was dead.

Nathalie hadn't called him yet. Did she expect him to just not learn about what had happened to Father? Did she know they were back in signal range? What exactly was going on? Why had she sent them somewhere without any signal? He needed answers.

He needed to process the reality that Father—Gabriel Agreste—Father was dead.

The Gorilla swerved suddenly to avoid a car sailing down the street they had been planning to turn into. Ladybug swung in front of them almost immediately afterward, heading toward what had thrown the car.

His Lady needed her Chat Noir. He could think about his own situation after he got done saving Paris with her.

The Gorilla was already out of the car, inspecting it to see if any damage had been done by the car or the sudden maneuver. Adrien slipped out of his seat, found an alleyway a little ways away, and summoned his courage.

"Plagg, claws out!"

Lyric: Mirror, tell me something: tell me who's the loneliest of all?

Narrative: Chat Noir scrambled to the nearest rooftop and began immediately making his way back toward the fight. Ladybug's ringtone sounded in his staff almost immediately.

"My Lady?"

"Chat Noir! Where are you? I really need your help!" An explosion cut off Ladybug's next sentence.

"Where are you, my Lady?" he asked.

"Near Collège Françoise Dupont. Hurry, please!"

"I'll be there with bell on!" he said, before she hung up.

He stopped long enough on a rooftop to have Adrien text the Gorilla that he had needed to find a toilet and would be back shortly. When the Gorilla sent back a thumbs-up, he sighed in relief and headed toward the Collège.

Lyric: Fear of what's inside me. Tell me, can a heart be turned to stone?

Narrative: Having an akuma to fight was a big enough distraction that he wouldn't have to think at all about Father's death. Another explosion close by focused him even more toward surviving what was in front of him.

"Chat Noir, you're here, thank goodness." Ladybug said, dropping into his hiding spot. "I don't know anything about this akuma. They don't talk, they just scream and things blow up in the direction they're screaming. I can't get close enough to see what the object might be."

Chat Noir heard the scream. It sounded remarkably familiar to him, like he had heard something like it in his recent past. A section of one of the bridges crossing the Seine burst apart, before the entire bridge slowly crumbled into the river.

"I can't figure out what they're doing, or who they want. It's like they're just lashing out at everything," Ladybug said. "I don't think Hawkmoth has ever done something like this before."

She sounded scared. Ladybug wasn't supposed to be scared. She was supposed to know what to do all the time. He was just the one with the Cataclysm. Something about this akuma had her scared.

Lyric: Mirror, mirror, what's behind you? Save me from the things I see!

Narrative: Chat popped his head up to scan and see if there was anything he could determine was the object Hawkmoth had infused with the purple butterfly

"I can't figure it out, either," he said, popping back down. A scream cut through his thoughts, chiling him. It sounded so sad and lonely, like a—

"Death wail," he said aloud, before the building underneath them rattled so severely they abandoned it for another rooftop.

Ladybug called her Lucky Charm, which produced a folded handkerchief in red and black spots. She stared at it for a long time.

"My Lady, they're grieving," Chat Noir said, struck by inspiration. "Look for something that they're protective of, like a locket or picture or something like that. We'll have to break it, and then hope the Miraculous Cure fixes it for them."

Ladybug walked up, as best she could, to the akuma, with her handkerchief offered for them to dry their eyes with. The akuma hugged a photograph tightly to their chest.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Ladybug said. "Hawkmoth took advantage of your grief to transform you. We want to put you back to yourself, but we're going to have to take your dear memento and get the akuma out of it."

The akuma narrowed their eyes at Ladybug, but eventually showed her a picture of a beautiful child.

"Is this your child?" she said, handing the photo to Chat and turning the akuma victim away from him so they wouldn't have to see the photograph torn to release the purple butterfly.

A quick yo-yo snap later, and Ladybug and Chat Noir were comforting Marie, a mother whose child had been killed in an accident earlier that day.

"This is all I have left of my baby," she sobbed, clutching a less-spotted tissue. "She was so young."

Chat, as the one who hadn't used his power, stayed with her for a long time, to help her grieve and to make sure another purple butterfly didn't make its way back to them. It allowed him not to think about his own situation too deeply.

Lyric: I can keep it from the world, why won't you let me hide from me?

Narrative: Ladybug returned soon after, having recharged herself. They successfully delivered Marie back to her family, left their condolences, and disappeared. He'd kept the Gorilla waiting for quite some time while they dealt with the akuma. Hopefully he wouldn't be too mad.

Lyric: Mirror, mirror, tell me something. Who's the loneliest of all?

Narrative: He managed to sneak back into an alley and appear as if he had just come from the public toilets. The Gorilla gave him a glare that let Adrien know he'd been away long enough, and the two of them returned to the now-parked car.

The Gorilla played a voicemail Nathalie had left him saying that the school had called and said it was okay for Adrien not to come in that day so that he could help with preparations for the funeral. Nathalie also mentioned the school had offered a grief counselor if he needed it.

Adrien wasn't sure he would need it. Because Adrien hadn't felt sad at learning about his Father's murder. He hadn't felt anything, really. Not even the numbness that had come when Mama had her accident. That was what disturbed him the most. If he didn't know better, he'd accuse himself of _not caring_ that Gabriel—Father—was dead.

The car turned toward the Agreste mansion, humming silently as it drove the streets recently cleared of akuma damage.

Lyric: _I'm_ the loneliest of all.


	3. Red Like Roses, Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel Agreste's funeral goes exactly according to his plans.

Lyric: Red, like roses, fills my dreams and brings me to the place you rest.

Narrative: Gabriel Agreste's coffin descended slowly into the ground, the mechanical elevator moving the box into the soil where it would rest, at least until nature took its course and returned Gabriel Agreste to the earth from whence he had come.

Even in death, Father had been controlling. While Nathalie and everyone else around him had been allowed to wear mourner's black, Adrien had been specifically instructed to wear white so that everyone could see the rebirth of father in son. It would make sure that any paparazzo taking pictures would easily be able to pick him out from the crowd.

One more performance for everyone, scheduled by his father. Adrien had a lot of feelings about this, but he packaged them up very tightly so it wouldn't show to Nathalie how much he hated that Gabriel Agreste had made his funeral the last fashion show he could attend. Gabriel's service was closed-casket, on account of the wound he had received that not even the best of mortuary beauticians could fix, but everything else had been planned and executed as if it were another photo shoot or runway show. Adrien sighed quietly to himself. Gabriel—Father never could resist pageantry. Even if he wasn't around to see it.

Lyric: White is cold and always yearning, burdened by a royal test.

Narrative: A flash at one of the windows caught his attention. Was that Ladybug? What was she—oh, right, they were currently sitting at ground zero for a potential explosion of negative emotions. If Hawkmoth wanted to find someone to throw a purple butterfly at, here would be the place for it. He hoped that somewhere in his tiny and shriveled heart, Hawkmoth at least had the decency to let someone rest in peace and for…someone to mourn Gabriel's—Father's passing.

Nathalie was getting up to give the final words thanking everyone for coming when he spotted it.

Lyric: Black, the beast, descends from shadows.

Narrative: Nathalie had held herself together through all of this, making sure the arrangements were according to the last instructions left, paying for all of it, and making sure that Adrien kept to his regular schedule. In a moment of mercy, she had agreed with him that getting to see his friends at school would help him grieve and process the tragedy. Everyone was supportive, although it seemed like Marinette waited a little longer than everyone else to leave him most days, and at times it felt like she was staring at him much more protectively than friendly.

And now Nathalie was going to be the victim of an akuma at her employer's funeral. Yet another thing that he would have to personally kick Hawkmoth somewhere sensitive for. His classmates, long used to the drill of evacuating (oh, wow, did that sound terrible. How many butterflies _had_ they dealt with that this process was a routine to them, students herding guests as far away from the purple menace as quickly and calmly as they could?) were moving everyone away from the podium. Nathalie was staring at the butterfly as it flapped quickly toward her.

"Run, Adrien," she said quietly.

"You—"

"—No."

Adrien tried to get the Gorilla to rescue Nathalie, too, but he picked Adrien up and carried him toward the exit as the butterfly settled onto Nathalie's glasses. The Gorilla flung the door closed behind him as his classmates closed the other. Once outside, everyone scattered. The Gorilla ran with him to the car, put him in the back, and made ready to drive.

Behind them, the sky lit up with a blinding light. Adrien heard a scream right before the light washed over him.

Lyric: Yellow beauty burns gold.

Narrative: The Gorilla was still out when Adrien woke up. Slipping out of the car, he saw several flashes in the distance. Well, at least he didn't have to guess where Nathalie was. Or what it was that had caused the akumatization. Ladybug must be having trouble getting to the glasses. Assuming he had been out all that long. He checked his watch, which helpfully told him he'd been out for all of two minutes. There was probably still time for a warmup pun or two. Adrien found the nearest convenient alley for a little privacy.

"Plagg, claws out!"

Chat Noir bounded over the rooftops toward his Lady, who was uncharacteristically hiding behind one of the mausoleums. The akuma was advancing on her with speed.

Hawkmoth was leaning a little heavily into the classical mythology today, it seemed. Nathalie had been transformed into something that wouldn't have been out of place in the statues of the graveyard. Or an art museum.

"I've always had an appreciation for the classics," he called, "but this is definitely into the grotesque."

Ladybug shouted a warning at him, but it was lost in the static as the akuma turned her gaze on him.

Father snarled at him. "Again," he said, setting the metronome in motion. Adrien tried to play the music in front of him, but his hands weren't working. He looked down and saw that they were much smaller than he was used to.

"Eyes up!" Father snapped. "Looking at your hands will only betray how little you know."

"I'm trying," Adrien muttered under his breath. He knew this piece well. Why weren't his hands moving like he needed them to?

Why did his voice sound so high?

"Useless," Father said as he finished the piece. "Again."

Three more times they went through the piece, and each time, Father could only criticize and tell him to do it again. On the fourth time, his hand slipped and hit a wrong note.

Father got up and left without a word. Adrien sat on the bench, ready to cry. He'd _tried_, but Father wouldn't acknowledge that. Why wouldn't Father say anything about that? Or anything good that he'd done?

At the edge of his vision he saw something, but he couldn't make out what it was.

"Don't let her look you in the eye!" Ladybug said in Chat Noir's ear.

"My Lady?" he said, confused. Why was he behind one of the statues?

"Her power is in her gaze. If she locks eyes with you, she can make you relive your worst nightmares."

"How…?" he asked.

"You came, and it broke her gaze long enough for me to get away," she replied, smiling warmly at him.

"How are we going to beat her? Her akuma is in her glasses, by the way. It's Gabriel Agreste's assistant, Nathalie. I'm going to kick Hawkmoth somewhere that hurts for sending a butterfly to a funeral."

Ladybug blanched slightly at the thought, but recovered quickly.

"We need to split up," Chat continued. "If we can keep her between us, she won't be able to freeze us both with her power. Then both of us can get close enough to Medusa to capture her."

The akuma screamed, and Adrien swore he heard Father's voice in his head, berating him for wanting to have friends, to go outside the mansion, to fall in love with a civic menace such as Ladybug.

_He's dead,_ he reminded himself, and his brain cleared.

"Who's dead?" Ladybug said.

"Hawkmoth, once I get my hands on him," Chat Noir snarled.

"I think we're going to need some extra help," Ladybug said. "But I need a distraction to figure out how to use whatever's going to happen."

"On it, my Lady," Chat said, sprinting out from behind cover and vaulting into the air. "Hey, snakes-for-hair!"

A golden beam of light lanced underneath, knocking the staff out from under him and sending him sprawling into the dirt. Rolling to a crouch with his back to Medusa, he started running, ducking around and behind statues and headstones that he desperately hoped Ladybug could fix after Medusa's gaze splintered them behind him.

It took him a little bit to realize the noise and explosions had stopped long enough to take a look at the battlefield.

He tried hard not to laugh seeing Ladybug sporting some extremely polished aviator sunglasses as she threw the glasses she plucked off of Medusa over to him to catch with his Cataclysm.

One more akuma down.

The Miraculous Cure felt better than usual as it swept over them. He was going to ask Ladybug about it, but both his ring and her earrings chirped, and they went their separate ways after assuring Nathalie that Adrien was fine and had gotten away safely from the site of the attack.

Adrien made it back to the car just before the Gorilla's phone chimed an incoming video call. Nathalie's face appeared on screen, and she seemed relieved to see them both alive and unharmed.

"If you're not too far away," she said, sounding like she had not just ridden Hawkmoth's emotional roller-coaster, "I would appreciate a ride back to the mansion. We have discharged our duties as faithfully as we could."

The Gorilla checked traffic, signaled, and used the nearest roundabout to turn the car toward the graveyard Adrien had just fought Nathalie in.

Dinner tonight was going to be really awkward.

A small bout of happiness cheered him about the thought of everyone sitting at the same table, before he remembered the reason why they might all finally get to sit and have a meal together.

Awkward might not be strong enough language for what dinner would be tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For an alternate take from the Red Trailer version, I quite like [the AmaLee cover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP9ROIX54eE), which gives it some extra mystique.


	4. Mirror, Mirror, Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien's friends rally around him.

Narrative: "Adrien, dude, you look like hell," Nino said when he arrived at school the next day.

"Akuma at the funeral will do that to you," Adrien said, grimacing.

"Sorry, dude," Nino said quietly. "That was insensitive of me."

Marinette held out a coffee cup to Adrien as he passed. "Hey," she said quietly to him. "If you need a place that's not the mansion to crash, there's a spare bed at the bakery."

"Hm?" Adrien asked, sipping from the coffee cup, rather than trying to drain it in a single gulp as he normally did.

"In case it gets to be too much," she said.

Lyric: Who am I to complain? My life's been spared so much pain.

Narrative: "Same here, dude," Nino said. "Just say you need a break, and we'll hide you from the world for as long as you need."

"You sure Alya would let you stay away from her for that long?" Adrien said, cracking a smile.

"Oh, hell no," Alya said, giving Nino a sidelong glance. "You would just get to see us both instead. And Ella and Etta would probably love having someone else to play games with."

"Do you think," Marinette said carefully, "that you could have us visit more often? I know that M. Agreste didn't like visitors—"

"—didn't _want_ visitors interfering with his perfect plan for his son." Adrien snapped, before realizing he'd said it aloud. "I'm so sorry," he apologized, drinking from the cup before any more words came out.

Lyric: Born with all that I need, my comforts all guaranteed

Narrative: "For what?" Alya said.

"I didn't mean it. He thought he was doing what was best for me," Adrien said, looking away from them and drinking again.

The three friends held a silent conference with each other about who was going to tell Adrien. Marinette shook her head and crossed her arms. Nino looked at Alya immediately, who glared at him before rolling her eyes and nodding.

"Adrien," Alya said, keeping her voice light, "I think you're going to find that not many people share that opinion."

"Really?" Adrien said.

"Really," Alya said firmly. "We're not supposed to speak ill of the dead, but I'm pretty sure some people are going to make a point of pissing on his grave."

"Alya!" Marinette said, horrified. "Supportive!"

"She's not wrong," Nino said.

"Nino!" Marinette hissed.

"It's okay," Adrien said, giving them a small laugh and a wan smile. "Father was a jerk to a lot of people while he was alive. I'm pretty sure there are more than enough people who will welcome the opportunity to be a jerk back, now that he can't hurt them."

"That doesn't mean we have to _contribute_," Marinette said. "And especially not in front of his grieving son."

Whatever Alya's planned response was to that statement, it died on her lips as Mme. Bustier entered the room.

When it was time to do the compliments exercise, Alya gave Adrien a covert wink. Miss Bustier pulled Adrien as the person to receive the compliment.

"Will that be okay?" she asked him. "Would a compliment help you today?"

"Yes, Mme. Bustier. Thank you for asking," Adrien said, still only smiling a little.

Mme. Bustier pulled out Chloé's name from the bowl to give the compliment. Marinette saw Alya fume silently. Someone must have gotten to the compliments bowl after her and spoiled whatever attempt Alya had made at making sure her preferred combination had gotten through.

Chloé stood at the front of the class, ready to talk. Marinette desperately hoped she wouldn't say something that would get anyone akumatized. It had been bad enough at the funeral, adding the first day back at school might be enough for _Adrien_ to decide he didn't want to have anything to do with them.

"Adrien has always been a good friend of mine," Chloé said, startling Marinette (and several other classmates) into paying closer attention. "I know I'm not the best at being friends with anyone, but Adrien has been nothing but kind, supportive, and patient with me through all the time we've known each other."

Chloé sat down. No sniping, no backhanded compliment, no using her time to get a shot in at anyone else. Marinette blinked, as if she wasn't entirely sure to believe the minor miracle she had just witnessed.

"Thanks," Adrien said. He sounded tired.

"I want you to know that everyone here in this class will support you in whatever way we can," Mme. Bustier said.

Adrien nodded and smiled a smile that Marinette immediately recognized. She ducked her head from so he wouldn't see her brief scowl.

Lyric: So what's the problem? What's keeping me? from moving forward, It's hard to see...

Narrative: Alya noticed. Nino noticed. _Kim_ noticed, which made Marinette wonder how brief the scowl actually was. Each of them gave Marinette a small nod. Adrien wasn't getting time alone while he was at school, at least as much as was possible.

It felt weird to think, but Marinette trusted her intuition. Adrien Agreste was on akuma watch.

Marinette tried to keep one eye on Adrien as the day progressed. He continued to sip coffee and write in class, but his expression rarely changed. Marinette remembered spending a lot of time in class before this just watching his face and wishing she could sketch it for all the expressions she saw.

Between classes, Alix sidled up to her.

"Adrien's on watch," she said,

Marinette nodded. "I know."

"So, no confessions of love, okay?"

Marinette bit back a laugh. "I won't."

"Don't let him, either."

Alix dashed off down the hall before Marinette could ask what she meant by that. It wasn't a secret that she'd fallen head over heels for Adrien since he had shown up in her class, but it was clear that the loss of his father had affected Adrien _hard_. Trying to push him on romance was bound to backfire. Even she could see that.

If they were bound to be together, it could wait. What Adrien needed right now was a friend. One that could accept him exactly as he was at that moment.

In Mme. Mendeleiev's class, Marinette and Alya made sure to pair up with Nino and Adrien for the experiment.

"Hey, Adrien. Sorry about earlier," Nino said as Alya and Marinette read the directions.

"It's cool,:" Adrien said. "There's been a lot on my mind since…well, you know."

Nino nodded and offered Adrien a hug. Adrien waved him off.

"I've just had a lot to think about," he said. "There's…a lot more to consider about my life, now that Father's not managing every minute of it. Nathalie is doing a really good job of juggling the schedule, though, so we don't miss any commitments, and at least for now, my lessons are going to continue on the same schedule."

Lyric: I should be free now.  
I should be fine.  
But the life I fought for still isn't mine.

Narrative: "You sure that's a good idea, dude?" Nino said. Alya and Marinette both nodded their agreement.

"Routine is supposed to help you keep moving and not get lost in grief. Or so my therapist says."

Mme. Mendeleiev shot a look their way, suggesting without speaking that they concentrate on the experiment in front of them. Alya read the directions aloud to them.

"I'm glad you have someone to talk to," Marinette said when they reached a part of the experiment where they had to wait for a reaction. "Bottling up your feelings—"

"—makes me a target," Adrien finished.

"That's not what I was going to say!" Marinette told him, horrified. Nino brought their attention back to the experiment before she could say more.

"Did Gabriel tell you that you were a target?" Marinette asked Adrien after class.

"Yeah," Adrien said, slumping his shoulders. "It's why he didn't want me to go anywhere, have visitors, or do anything outside of his schedule. "

Lyric: Some believe in fairy stories, and the ghosts that they can't see...

Narrative: "That's horrible!" Marinette whisper-cried. "Why?"

"Mama," Adrien said quietly. "Ga—Father said what happened to her was because people wanted to hurt our family, and they wouldn't stop until they had. The only way to be safe was to do what he said. So that's what I did. And now..." His shoulders slumped.

Lyric: I know that I could do so much. If I could just believe in me.

Narrative: "Now it's my fault I'm an orphan. If I hadn't asked to come to school, this wouldn't have happened."

Marinette stuffed the ball of rage building in her into a very dark place. Right now, she needed to be supportive of her friend. She could deal with _that_ later.

"Hey, Adrien," Nino said, stepping in front of Marinette to cover Alya dragging her off to the side. "Want to come over after school?" Marinette didn't see what Adrien said, but his shoulders perked up at the question.

"Girl, you looked like you were going to murder someone there. What happened?" she said.

Lyric: Mirror, mirror: Tell me something. Can I stop my fall?

Narrative: "Adrien was telling me about why his father kept him under lock and key. _That asshole_," Marinette snarled, "blamed his son for his mother's disappearance."

"That asshole is _dead_, Marinette. And it doesn't matter if the entire world sleeps better at night because he's in the ground, because we are helping his son get through the grieving process. We need to do that without drawing down a little purple butterfly. Are we cool?"

Marinette drew in a deep breath, letting some of the heat out from her core. "Yeah, we're cool. Thanks, Alya."

"You know I've always got your back," she said. "Let's rejoin the boys."

Marinette nodded, and followed Alya.

"…we're going to need to hire a designer for the company soon," Adrien was telling Nino as they approached the table.

"You think Marinette could do the work?" Nino said, acknowledging their presence with a wave. It was a different table than their usual, but it didn't take long to realize why Nino had chosen it. Adrien could see anyone coming from there and decide whether he wanted to interact.

"I don't think Nathalie could deal with the headaches of hiring an underage designer," Adrien said, casting a sheepish grin at Marinette. "The law is pretty strict about hours and conditions until you're eighteen."

"What about you?" Marinette asked.

"Family," Adrien said, shrugging. "Father signed the permission paperwork and we always kept records that said I wasn't overworking myself."

Marinette nodded and hoped her face didn't betray her immediate disbelief that Gabriel Agreste would have let something like the law stop him from doing whatever he wanted.

Lyric: Years of scorn will leave you cold.

Narrative: "At least there's some money there for when I turn eighteen," Adrien said. "I thought it would be a good start."

"Start to what?" Marinette asked.

"This is going to sound bad, but I thought, maybe, I could take the money and go somewhere away from my father for a bit."

"Dude, that's not bad at all," Nino said. "Getting some distance from your father would have been good."

"He wouldn't have approved it," Adrien said, laughing slightly.

Lyric: "Forget your dreams. Do what you're told."

Narrative: The entire table squelched their first reactions immediately for Adrien's sake.

"Not that he cared enough about me to come to fucking dinner once in a while," Adrien muttered darkly.

Lyric: When disapproval's all you're shown,

Narrative: Adrien clapped his hand over his mouth after he realized he'd said it aloud.

"Tell us how you really feel, Adrien," Alya said, grinning, before she realized what she'd said and facepalmed. "Sorry. Supportive."

Adrien exhaled.

Lyric: The safest place becomes alone.

Narrative: "What were you expecting, dude?" Nino said, picking up on Adrien's unstated worry.

"That…" Adrien laughed again, small and sad. "That somehow, what I said would get back to Father. And he'd tell me I couldn't go to school anymore."

Lyric: And isolation's the price you pay. And every friendship is pushed away.

Narrative: "Nobody here is telling anyone anything," Marinette said, more forcefully than she'd intended. Adrien was halfway out of his seat before what she'd said registered.

"Sorry," he said.

"Sorry," Marinette said at the same time.

"Guess I'm still pretty fragile," Adrien said, sliding back into his seat.

"That's okay," Marinette said.

"So, you were saying something about coming over?" Nino said.

"I…wait. Did I?" Adrien asked.

"You were going to check your calendar, dude."

"And then we got talking about other things, right," Adrien said, pulling out his phone and tapping. "Huh. My schedule says I'm free today."

Another minor miracle, Marinette thought.

"Do you think we could all hang out at your place, Nino?" Alya asked.

"What do you think, Adrien?" Nino deferred.

"I don't know," Adrien said immediately.

"Try again," Alya deadpanned.

"We won't be upset if you want to spend time with just Nino," Marinette added. "I can use the time to work on designs and talk with Alya."

"At least until Ella and Etta demand to play with you," Alya said, laughing.

"Oh, I thought that Nora was looking after the twins?" Marinette said nervously.

"Nope. She's going to the gym tonight."

"Ah." Marinette laughed nervously. "Maybe some other day, then? Ella and Etta are a handful, and I'm not really up to playing with them today."

"Sure thing," Alya said.

"I think…" Adrien said slowly, "I'd like to have my friends around for a little while longer before I head home."

Lyric: But bit by bit now, a step each day, I'm slowly starting to find my way.

Narrative: "Cool," Nino said. "Out front after school?"

Adrien nodded. "Sounds good."

Marinette smiled. Adrien had made a decision. And had felt safe enough to make that decision. Three minor miracles in one day. If they made it through without an akuma attack, it would be a truly blessed day.

Lyric: Some believe in fairy stories, and the ghosts that they can't see.

Narrative: Marinette glanced at her watch.

"Oh, crap," she said. "We're going to have to run if we want to get to class on time!"

The group broke into a run. Marinette snuck a glance at Adrien. He was smiling as he ran.

Lyric:  I know that I could do so much, if I could just believe in me.

Narrative: Marinette hoped today would stay a good day.

Lyric: Mirror, mirror: I'll tell you something.  
I think I might change it all.


	5. Red Like Roses, Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone deals with grief and loss in their own way. Many of them are not healthy at all.

Narrative: Nathalie shifted from foot to foot as the lift took her to the skylight.

Lyric: I couldn't take it, couldn't stand another minute. Couldn't bear another day without you in it.

Narrative: "Nooroo, dark wings rise!" she said as the iris covering the skylight opened, scattering the white butterflies around Hawkmoth as she stepped into the light provided.

It had been…how many days had it been since she'd discovered the horrifying sight of Gabriel with a knife sticking out of his eye?

Lyric: All of the joy that I had known for all my life was stripped away from me the minute that you died!

Narrative: He'd always said that the butterflies reacted best to the person with the strongest emotions. Well, for however long it had been, that meant _she_ was the person with the strongest emotion in the room.

Lyric: To have you in my life was all I ever wanted. But now without you, I'm a soul forever haunted.

Narrative: This had led to a discovery that Gabriel hadn't known about, or at least hadn't left in his notes: rather than send a butterfly out looking for strong emotion, a butterfly could be loaded with that emotion and send to find _anyone_, and the results were mostly the same. Perhaps her akuma were less focused on any particular task, but they were certainly more powerful.

If only infusing the butterflies with her grief could make it lessen. Life was so much easier when she could just be Gabriel Agreste's hardworking personal assistant, instead of trying to keep his empire from falling to pieces in his absence. There was still so much about how it all ran that she hadn't been privy to, and now she had to learn how to do it all, since Adrien was still a child.

Lyric: Can't help but feel that I had taken you for granted. No way in hell that I can ever comprehend this.

Narrative: She closed her hands over the white butterfly, the memory of Gabriel's corpse still seared fresh in her mind, the grief-stricken sobs she'd let out as soon as she knew Adrien couldn't hear her, the preparations, the funeral, letting herself be akumatized so she could be free with her grief.

Lyric: I wasn't dreaming when they told me you were gone! I was wide awake and feeling that they had to be wrong!

Narrative: Let someone else carry the burden of mourning for her murdered love.

Lyric: How could you leave me when you swore that you would stay?

Narrative: The butterfly flew away slowly, burdened with the emotions it carried. Hawkmoth grabbed another of the white butterflies and poured more grief into it and sent it on its way.

Lyric: Now I'm trapped inside a nightmare every single effing day.

Narrative: She was going to exhaust her grief, exhaust herself, or exhaust Nooroo before she stopped sending akumas tonight.

Lyric: It's like a movie, but there's not a happy ending. Every scene fades black, and there's no pretending.

Narrative: If she admitted it to herself, Hawkmoth didn't really care about the latter two. She had more than enough emotion to spread around all of Paris. Let Chat Noir and Ladybug run themselves into oblivion trying to keep up with her.

Now there were two glass coffins where the butterflies grew. She'd thought about pulling the power on Émilie, but she needed someone for Gabriel to strive for when she brought him back.

Lyric: This little fairy tale doesn't seem to end well.

Narrative: He never loved Nathalie, as much as she tried to get him to see her as the next best thing from his wife.

Lyric: There's no knight in shining armor who will wake me from the spell!

Narrative: Hawkmoth sent another akuma into the air. A small voice in the back of her head begged her to stop before she went too far into her grief, to stick to the plan she and Gabriel had just worked out.

Lyric: I know you didn't plan this. You tried to do what's right.

Narrative: Right now, however, Hawkmoth wasn't concerned with plans. Paris had taken her love, and for that, Paris could _burn_. She'd pluck the Miraculous off Ladybug and Chat Noir's corpses when she was done.

Lyric: But in the middle of this madness, I'm the one you left to win this fight.

Narrative: One of her akuma found a home. Images of an older woman in her coffin, holding a bouquet of roses flooded her mind as the connection was forged.

"Destroy it all," she said. "And if you can, kill Ladybug and Chat Noir."

Lyric: Red, like roses, fills my head with dreams and finds me.

Narrative: Another akuma connected, and then another. Grief, sadness, and so many dead people in the world flooded her as she shaped their feelings into armor and weapons and set them loose on Paris.

Nothing could fill the void left by Gabriel's absence, but maybe she could fill it for a little bit by attacking the cause of her grief.

Lyric: Always closer to the emptiness and sadness that has come to take the place of you.

Scene Change

* * *

Narrative: "Another one? Tsheò nyí ma, Hawkmoth! " Ladybug snarled.

"Wait, my Lady," Chat Noir said quietly, before Ladybug swung away again.

"What is it, Chat? Are you hurt?" Ladybug's tone shifted immediately to concern. Chat shook his head.

"No, it's just that I need to ask you about something, and if we're both run ragged by the end of the night, I'll forget. It won't take long." He thumbed his staff's screen up.

One by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls, she read, and the results from the search engine underneath.

"Was this you?" he asked quietly.

Ladybug stared at it for a long time. Far too long for anyone who was innocent to say nothing. Finally, she nodded, turned away from him, and slung her yo-yo into the distance to chase the newest akuma.

Lyric: I know you're broken down by anger and by sadness.

Narrative: Chat Noir stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do next. The sound of an akuma screaming in the distance brought him back to his senses. He took off after Ladybug, a hundred questions he will never ask her pinballing in his head.

Ladybug killed his father. He'd suspected her of it ever since he looked at the line she'd left, but she just completely confirmed it for him, in the guise of telling her trusted partner that she committed _murder_, because she couldn't lie to him.

Lyric: You feel I left you in a world that's full of madness.

Narrative: Chat realized, as he tried to follow Ladybug, that she had been moving at top speed, trying to put as much distance between them as possible. It was clear to him she didn't want to answer any questions, and how could he ask any of the ones he had without revealing Chat Noir's civilian identity?

Lyric: Wish I could talk to you, if only for a minute, make you understand the reasons why I did it.

Narrative: Chat would never put Gabriel Agreste on a list of people titled "best people in the world," but _Ladybug didn't kill_. She kept yelling at him about putting himself in harm's way and taking hits for her that were unnecessary. What had happened to get her, of all people, to commit murder?

Lyric: I wanna tell you that you're all that ever mattered. Want you to know that, for eternity, I'm shattered.

Narrative: Whatever it was, it had to have been drastic. And right after Ladybug had killed Gabriel Agreste, Hawkmoth had changed tactics. Did he know? Was he trying to corrupt her? Had Ladybug been akumatized into killing Gabriel? And if she _had_, what had prompted her to carry out such a terrible mission?

Lyric: I tried so hard just to protect you, but I failed to. And in a prison of abandonment I've jailed you.

Narrative: Further thoughts on the matter were shelved as Chat caught up to Ladybug, who was already engaged with the akuma. This one had similar powers as all the others they'd fought tonight. _Don't look it in the eyes,_ Chat reminded himself. _Try to stay out of range of its scream._ But he was so tired from fighting all the ones before. If he curled up and took a cat nap, he'd feel so much better.

He felt Ladybug pick him up by the waist as she swung by. The akuma's fist crashed down where he had been but a moment ago.

Lyric: I never planned that I would leave you there alone. I was sure that I would see you when I made it back home.

Narrative: "Keep moving, Chat!" she shouted in his ear. "If you stand still, the apathy will get you."

He felt more energized swinging with her than he had a little while ago. In a little while longer, his head cleared of the fog that he hadn't noticed creeping up on him.

"Thanks, my Lady," he said. "Keep moving. I understand."

She let him off at the next rooftop and started swinging again after he'd taken off with his staff, looking for where the akumatized object might be.

What had provoked Ladybug so terribly that she had felt justified in ending Gabriel's life? She had to have known what kind of chaos it would cause in his (well, Adrien's) life.

Lyric: And all the times I swore that it would be okay. Now I'm nothing but a liar, and you're thrown into the fray.

Narrative: Nathalie made a great executive assistant, but she was desperately trying to hold everything together, and the strain was showing. He'd seen her impassive façade crack a lot recently when she didn't think anyone was around. The Gorilla, for his part, was still his bodyguard, but more than once he'd also been the closest person for Nathalie to bury her head into and have a meltdown before regaining herself.

Lyric: This bedtime story ends with misery ever after. The pages are torn, and there's no final chapter.

Narrative: He kept returning to the idea that Ladybug had been akumatized into the killing. It was the only thing that made logical sense. At some point, his Lady had been taken advantage of by Hawkmoth and forced to do that heinous act, whether she wanted to or not.

Lyric: I didn't have a choice, I did what I had to do. I made a sacrifice, but forced a bigger sacrifice on you.

Narrative: “Vai a farti fottere, Hawkmoth," he muttered. One more thing to add to the pile of things he was going to kick Hawkmoth's ass over, if he ever got the opportunity and a free shot. Which meant figuring out what had happened to this victim and getting them free of his influence.

Lyric: I know you've lived a nightmare. I caused you so much pain.

Narrative: Circling the akuma several times didn't provide any more answers. His staff didn't knock anything loose, no matter where he hit the akuma with it, and Ladybug's yo-yo didn't provide any clues, either. If she stopped long enough to get her Lucky Charm out, the same thing might happen to her that happened to him.

An idea formed in his head. She wasn't going to like it, but he needed her to live. If that meant he ended up dying temporarily (or maybe permanently), it would be worth it.

Lyric: But, baby, please don't do what I did! I don't want you to waste your life in vain.

Narrative: He put on extra speed, trying to catch up to her so he could tell her the plan. Before he fully caught up, though, he saw the telltale flash of her Lucky Charm. Usually, when she summoned it, she started looking around immediately trying to put it to use. This time, she was barely able to catch it.

No time for delicacy. 'Give me a lever' it was, then. He barely caught her as she slumped down, but he had enough of her with his staff to launch himself off the roof and use his own momentum to spring her into the air. He watched her take off as he landed next to the akuma.

Lyric: Red, like roses, fills my head with dreams and finds me.

Narrative: Good. He'd kickstarted her with her Lucky Charm. She could do the rest. He didn't particularly want to do anything else at this point. He knew he should do something about the impending akuma attack he'd left himself open to, but he just couldn't muster up the care. There wasn't really anything left to do but surrender to the void in his heart.

Lyric: Always closer to the emptiness and sadness that has come to take the place of you.

Narrative: Fire raced across his face, snapping him back to reality. Only his reflexes saved him from taking a faceplant into the street.

"Tsheò nyí ma!" he heard Ladybug shout at him, before she slapped him. Again, he amended, realizing the first spark of pain he'd experienced was the same as this one, just on the other side of his face.

"What?" he said, blinking heavily and shaking his head.

"Which part of _Don't die on me_ did you **_not understand_**, Chat Noir?" she said, fury in her voice.

"I never agreed to that," he said, still getting his bearings back. "You needed a boost to get going again, and you can fix akumas. I can't."

Lyric: You're not the only one who needed me; I thought you understood.

Narrative: "Do you ever consider what I go through every time you decide that you're expendable? I had to watch you _die_ this time. Not just get whammied by an akuma." Ladybug glared at him.

Lyric: You were the one I needed, and you left me as I always feared you would!

Narrative: "I needed to save you from that fate, and if it turns out that I can't come back from one of these times, it'll be okay." He watched her recoil in horror, and realized he'd told her something too close to the truth again.

Lyric: Would I change it if I could?

Narrative: "Why do you think so little of your life, Chat Noir? What happened to you that you're so willing to throw your life away?" she said, her eyes filling with tears as her anger dissipated.

Lyric: It doesn't matter how. The petals scatter now.

Narrative: "You don't understand," Chat Noir said. She might be the only one who could, though, he realized. "I don't have friends. I don't have family. You're the closest thing I have to an anchor to this world, but—"—_you can't be around enough to keep me here_—"—my safety is always subordinate to yours. If I have to sacrifice myself, then so be it."

"Oh, _no_. **No**." Ladybug shook her head vehemently. "You don't understand at all, do you, Chat? I tried not to tell you, because it wasn't fair, but since you've gone for honesty, I should, too. My sleep has been shit because I'm chasing akumas all night, sure, but also because when I dream of you, you're always bleeding out, or getting crushed, or becoming an akuma. When I dream of you, Chat Noir, you're dying.”

Lyric: Every nightmare just discloses: It's your blood that's red like roses.

Narrative:  "And no matter what I do, it never seems to be enough for you!"  
Lyric: And no matter what I do, nothing ever takes the place of you!

Narrative: Chat cocked his head to the side. "Wait. I don't hear another akuma alarm. Did we finally exhaust Hawkmoth for tonight?"

"Don't change the subject, Chat Noir," Ladybug snapped at him, but she listened as well. "Even if you're right."

He leaned on his staff far more heavily than he would have liked. The day was catching up to him. And, if he was honest, it looked like Ladybug was borrowing time from tomorrow.

He offered her an arm. She took it.

"This doesn't mean we're finished talking about this," she told him as they slowly walked away from the battle site. "I'll be a lot more coherent when I see you next."

"Of course, my Lady," Chat Noir said. "Until then, though, sweet dreams."

She glared at him and weakly hit him on the shoulder. "You can help with that, you know."

"Is that a request to sing you to sleep, my Lady?"

"No," she said, although he could tell the thought intrigued her. "I wish you could stay close by tonight, so when the dreams come, I can wake up and see you."

Any other night, he would have jumped at the chance. Tonight, after what he had seen and heard, he didn't trust himself or Ladybug to do something regrettable.

"Here's my stop," she said, when they arrived at a bus stop. "Thank you for walking me home." She spun her yo-yo and swung off into the night.

"Restful sleep, my Lady," he replied to the air.

Lyric: Red, like roses, fills my head with dreams and finds me always closer to the emptiness and sadness that has come to take the place of you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really like [this alternate take by FamilyJules, featuring Lollia and Adriana Figueroa](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5jdkyYvSZY). The voices go well together with the guitar playing.


	6. This Life Is Mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noir melts down. Marinette sits with him and pierces holes in his abuse-victim logic. Adrien and Nathalie butt heads, and Adrien reflects a little on how the new boss is a lot like the old one.

Narrative: He needed to get back. When he got there, he could lay down, and when he laid down, he could unravel. Except it wasn't safe there. Too many memories. He needed to find somewhere safe. His Lady had yelled at him. It was his fault she yelled at him. Everything was always his fault.

Lyric: Mirror? Can you hear me? Do I reach you?

Narrative: There was a light on above the patisserie. Marinette was home. And possibly awake.

He nearly overshot the railing, hopping down much more quickly and heavily than he had intended onto the balcony. He bolted for the chair, hoping Marinette had left a blanket out to huddle under. She had. He wrapped himself in the blanket as best he could, but it was getting tangled in his claws. He couldn't do anything right. His Lady hated him and would never want to do anything with him again. It was his fault for angering her. She could do so much—

Lyric: Are you even listening? Can I get through?

Narrative: "Chat Noir?"

Marinette.

"Are you okay?"

She sounded nice. Like she cared. Not that he deserved her care after what he had done.

"Chat Noir," she said again, interrupting his brain. "Blanket." She held out a much bigger blanket for him to take. He took it and wrapped himself in it. There was a pressure to it, a weight that helped him feel like he wouldn't fly away.

"I'm getting a chair for myself, Chat Noir," she said. She sounded calm. "I'm still here." She sat down in his line of sight. Too far away to touch him, he knew. Smart. "What's wrong?"

Lyric: There's a part of me that's desperate for changes, tired of being treated like a pawn.

Narrative: He shook his head. He couldn't say it. Saying it meant it was real and he'd fucked up _so terribly_ that he didn't _want_ it to be real. He should have stayed dead. He couldn't disappoint her that way. She needed someone better than him. He was always going to be a disappointment to her.

"Stay with me. Talk to me."

He shook his head again. Still too many things in his head. He had been able to handle her disappointment, but this time he'd made his Lady angry with him and why was his father always disciplining him? He'd been a kid! Kids made mistakes. But Father didn't care. Gabriel didn't care how old he was, he had to be perfect or he was "_your_ son." And now he'd just blown up his relationship with his only other friend who understood, who helped him be better than that.

Lyric: But there's a part of me that stares back from inside the mirror. Part of me that's scared I might be wrong.  
  
That I can't be strong.

Narrative: "Chat," she said again. "You're safe here. What happened?"

"Ladybug," he said, covering his face so he didn't have to see hers. "My Lady hates me."

"Why do you say that?" she asked after a pause.

"She yelled at me. She's angry with me. She doesn't want me—she doesn't want me." The words were coming faster now. "She doesn't want me and she's going to leave me and I'm going to be alone."

Lyric: I've been afraid, never standing on my own. I let you be the keeper of my pride.

Narrative: "You're not alone."

"_You don't know that._"

"I'm here, and I'm not going away. You have friends when you're not being Chat, right?"

She was right. He had friends.

"I…I got killed by an akuma tonight," he ventured, the blanket helping him not see Marinette or any of her reactions. "Ladybug brought me back, I guess. I don't really know what happened, but I remember her, cursing and yelling at me. She was so angry."

"Mm-hmm," Marinette said.

"I failed her. I was going to die and I didn't care. She deserves someone who cares."

Lyric: Believed you when you told me I was nothing on my own.

Narrative: "Was that you or the akuma talking?" Marinette asked.

What?

"What?"

He poked his head out from behind the blanket.

"What could the akuma do?"

Lyric: Listen when I say, I swear it here today.

Narrative: "It…was really hard to do anything near it. You had to keep moving or you just…stopped."

"Stopped?"

"Yeah. Like nothing really mattered."

Lyric: I will not surrender! This life is mine!

Narrative: Marinette hmmed.

"So, you didn't care," she said, smiling at him (wow, what a smile), "or you _couldn't_?"

"Does it matter?" he said.

"Say I have a friend who is...extremely clumsy. Everyone around her keeps telling her she's a klutz and a disaster and she should never be allowed around anything ever.”

Lyric: Amazing how you conquered me, chained me in servility, and made me see the world the way you told me to.

Narrative: "After enough time, she begins to believe it. There's something wrong with her, and it's her, and she's never going to get any better."

Lyric: But I was young, and didn't have a way to know the truth.

Narrative: That sounded familiar. Gabriel Agreste had always made it clear what he thought about any of Adrien's friends that Gabriel hadn't personally brought over. They could only be a bad influence on him, and Gabriel detested bad influences.

Lyric: Born to live your legacy, existing just to fill your needs.

Narrative: He'd casually pruned away any people he didn't approve of, adult or child, until Adrien was left with a very small circle of potential acquaintances. When pressed, he'd always said that family should come first, before anything else.

Lyric: A casualty of this so-called "family" that you have turned into a travesty.

Narrative: "At some point, she goes to a doctor," Marinette continued. "She's still having trouble keeping her balance, and she tries to sit as far away from anything sharp as she can. The doctor comes in, asks her some questions about her balance, what she's feeling, and what hurts. Every response she gives, he describes back to her exactly what's going on. It's spooky and weird to hear, but the doctor keeps assuring her that it's normal and she'll be fine soon. Finally, she asks the doctor when she's going to start feeling better.”

Lyric: But I don't intend to suffer any longer. Here's where your dominion falls apart.

Narrative: "The doctor looks at her with confusion, and says, 'As soon as we remove the thing that's pushing on your ear.'

"He'd assumed she knew, given how easily she'd answered his questions, and that she just needed to talk to him to get the official diagnosis and to schedule the surgery."

Lyric: I'm shattering the mirror that kept me split in pieces, that stood between my mind and my heart.

Narrative: "So," Chat said, peeking from behind the blanket, "why did it take them so long to get you the surgery?"

Marinette shook her head. "My clumsiness is all natural, Chat Noir. It was just a story. If I had needed surgery, I would have received it."

Lyric: This is where I'll start.

Narrative: Because her parents cared, she left unsaid. Because she had people she could rely on to raise her and take care of her, instead of having to scrape and claw for every bit of affection he could earn. And it was always earning affection from him. He never gave anything away, not even love.

"Thank you, Marinette," Chat Noir said, yawning. "You've helped me a lot. I think I'll be okay."

"Chat Noir," Marinette said. "You are welcome to stay here for the night, if you need to. And…I can make a phone call for you, if you want to see a therapist."

He quickly threw the blanket back over his head so she wouldn't see him blush. "Thank you, Marinette," he said quietly. "I'll keep that in mind, but someone is going to miss me if I don't get back to bed soon." In a smooth motion, he hopped out of the chair, left the blanket on it, and bounded off the balcony railing into the Paris night.

"Sweet dreams, Chat Noir," Marinette said to his fading form.

Scene Change

* * *

Nathalie was a lot better at keeping dinner appointments, at least. They could spend some time together, eating, while Nathalie went over Adrien's schedule for the next day. Unfortunately, Nathalie was just as distracted as Father had been when they had actually been able to sit together. Not that Adrien had any hope about that.

Lyric: I'm not your pet, not another thing you own.

Narrative: For the last couple weeks, while he and Ladybug had been running themselves ragged dealing with Hawkmoth's seemingly-endless font of akuma, Nathalie had been dealing with finding all of the companies, subsidiaries, suppliers, customers, and ties that Gabriel Agreste and Agreste Fashions had built up over the years. From the way that Nathalie abruptly changed what she was talking about when she noticed Adrien was around, he suspected some of them were less official (and likely less legal) than anyone would believe.

Lyric: I was not born guilty of your crimes.

Narrative: "You have tutoring tomorrow, Adrien, and then there's a photoshoot in the afternoon, so I'll be coming in to make sure you're asleep early," Nathalie was saying.

"What?" Adrien frowned. "Tonight is the class lock-in. We discussed this last week, and you said it was okay."

"I don't recall that," Nathalie said.

Adrien pulled out his phone from his pocket, pulling up his calendar. When he didn't see the party he had put on it, he grabbed his voicemail and played it back for Nathalie, where he asked if he could go to the school Friday night and stay with his friends. Nathalie had clearly said it was okay. He could clearly hear that she was distracted at the time.

That he had been counting on that was a detail he didn't need to mention.

"No, Adrien," Nathalie said, unmoved by her own words. "It's still not safe for you to be out unaccompanied. And you have a full day tomorrow. You need sleep if you're going to get through it okay."

Adrien opened his mouth to protest, but Nathalie had already turned her attention back to the tablet. Discussion closed, as if she was still just relaying Father's words and not having to take any responsibility for them.

Lyric: Your riches and your influence can't hold me anymore.

Narrative: Adrien went back to his food for a few bites. There wasn't anything wrong with the food, but he had been looking forward to some of Marinette's macarons. And to spending time with his schoolmates doing things normal kids did.

The usual solution to Gabriel being obstinate popped into his head. Had it still been Gabriel not-really at the head of the table, he would have gone through with it without a second thought. _Their_ relationship was already well-established.

Lyric: I won't be possessed. Burdened by your royal test, I will not surrender! This life is mine.

Narrative: Had been well-established, Adrien corrected himself. It was still weird referring to Father in the past tense. He'd expected Gabriel Agreste to be a controlling influence in his life for...well, all of his life, until Gabriel had died of the bitterness that would poison every relationship he ever had.

It was different with Nathalie, though. He could try to keep their relationship cordial, or at least try not to add to her stress levels by sneaking out after she had told him no. It would certainly be easier for them both to establish himself to Nathalie as a dutiful and obedient child.

Lyric: Shame that it took so long to rescue me from the guilt you used to tie me to your family tree.

Narrative: There was still the chance that Nathalie might not turn out to be too far gone into the methods that Gabriel Agreste had used to keep his son in line. He could end up sabotaging the relationship just as it was getting off the ground.

Lyric: I guess your training failed. You're not in charge, I'm free! Your patriarchal prison won't hold me!

Narrative: A memory from much earlier returned to him. He'd been sent to his room for embarrassing Father in front of guests and told to wait there until he came for him. It always took a long time for Father to come for him, far longer than even the most dedicated small child could hold out without wanting some attention. He'd been so mad because he'd wanted to show Father what he'd made with his tutor. Mama had always been willing to see what his creations were, so Father should have been interested, too. But he hadn't been, and he'd grounded Adrien, and Adrien had felt angry and embarrassed that Father could dismiss his work like that.

Lyric: Now this conversation's finally over. Mirror Mirror, now we're done!

Narrative: There was something more to that memory, too, but Adrien couldn't remember what it was. He'd laid down on his bed, and then, something happened. Something flashed at the corner of his vision, but he could never make it out in his memory what it was. He'd been told he just fell asleep, because he couldn't remember anything that had happened after he'd laid down on the bed.

Nathalie got up to deal with some business she didn't want Adrien overhearing. Once she'd left the room, Adrien grabbed his phone again and sent a quick text to Nino:

Lyric: I've pulled myself together now. My mind and heart are one, finally one.

Narrative: 

> Delayed getting out. Still planning on being there.

Keeping his eyes peeled for Nathalie's return, he smiled when the phone buzzed back.

> Need some help getting out on time?

Adrien thought about it.

> Whatever you can spare. Don't get into trouble on my account, though.

Nino only sent one thing in reply: an emoji with a halo on top.

Adrien could hear Nathalie coming back down the hall toward the table again.

> Can get out after 19h.

Adrien pushed the phone back in his pocket just before Nathalie returned to the dining room. She looked like she'd been bitten by a particularly angry insect, but when Adrien tried to ask about it, she brushed him away by saying it wasn't anything he needed to be concerned about.

Lyric: I'm not your pet! Not another thing you own! I was not born guilty of your crimes!

Narrative: The rest of dinner passed without Nathalie saying anything more to Adrien about his schedule, or anything else, for that matter. For as much as Adrien had been trying to avoid having the same relationship around dinner time with Nathalie as he had with Father, Nathalie wasn't making it easier.

Lyric: Your riches and your influence can't hold me anymore!

Narrative: After dinner, Adrien retreated to his room, as if he were getting ready for bed like Nathalie had told him to. He needed to pack before he left.

Lyric: I won't be possessed! Burdened by your royal test, I will not surrender! This life is mine!


	7. From Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Springing Adrien for a night with his friends shouldn't be too hard, right?

Narrative: "Where's Adrien?" Marinette asked, scanning her surroundings as she placed a box of macarons on the food table.

"I haven't seen him yet," Nino said, walking towards the table where he was setting up his equipment.

"He was supposed to be here by now," Marinette frowned. "He said he'd gotten permission to come, too."

Nino set his box down on the table right before his pocket emitted a small piano melody. "That'll be the dude right now," Nino said, pulling his phone out.

Frowning, he send off a quick reply. Another piano. An even faster reply that time. On the last chime, Nino _smiled_.

"Keep grinning like that, Nino, and they'll know you hid the bodies," Alya said as she carried a box of decorations past.

"Who's up for a rescue mission?" Nino said, projecting so everyone could hear.

"Who's the target?" Alix said, appearing from the hallway.

"Adrien."

"Count me in." Marinette said, determination on her face. Nino shivered and looked away from her. He'd seen that look a lot from her recently. Nothing would get in the way of her, even if it meant tearing the Agreste mansion down one brick at a time.

"I'm going," Alya said. "Someone has to keep him safe," she added, pointing at Nino.

The rest of the class present (unsurprisingly, Chloé and Sabrina had passed on the activity; surprisingly, so had Lila) gave various signs of affirmation. Rose, Juleka, Max, Nathaniel, and Mylène volunteered to keep getting the space ready for Adrien and to keep the doors unlocked for their return.

"All present and accounted for, then." Nino said, once the rescue party had assembled. "Let's go!"

"What's the plan?" Alya asked as they headed to the mansion.

"Well, first we go up to the door and ask, hoping that seeing so many of Adrien's friends assembled will mean Mme. Sancoeur doesn't live up to her name."

"And if she does?"

"Then we get creative," Marinette interjected. "Not to the point where we visit the van Gogh exhibit or summon Rogercop," Marinette added, "but there's probably something we can do to help Adrien get away, even if it is only for a night."

Nino and Alya nodded.

"Who's going to keep her distracted?" Alix asked, skating by. "My vote's on Marinette."

"Oh? Why?" Alya asked. "Marinette's not really all that fond of lying."

"Who said anything about that?" Alix scoffed. "Think about it. Who do we know that can talk at great length about a single topic?"

"Especially when that topic is the hot model she's been trying to get the attention of," Ivan added.

Marinette's cheeks flushed as she scowled at them.

"Knock it off, you guys," Alya said. "You're embarrassing her."

"She deserves it," Ivan, Alix, and Kim chorused.

"It's not polite," Alya added, with a look that dared anyone to say otherwise.

Alix returned her look with one suggesting that polite wasn't part of their shared vocabulary, but nobody said anything further on the matter.

The Agreste mansion loomed in the distance.

"You've got this, girl," Alya told her. "Just keep talking."

Marinette nodded. This would be a perfect test run for if (when) they would need to get Adrien out for real.

Marinette checked to make sure nobody else was near her, and then rang the bell.

"Identify yourself," the robot voice demanded as the camera eye extended to focus on her.

Lyric: Intruder, identify yourself.

Scene Change

* * *

Narrative: Adrien threw together his overnight bag—clothes for tomorrow, cheese for Plagg in an airtight container, a few things to do in case he found himself by himself and needing something to do. A few other things to use in case he found himself having to duck out and fight an akuma as Chat Noir. It was a familiar routine, having done it so many times at the request of his father for reasons that never really materialized until they were well on their way to whatever it was.

Lyric: Born with no life, into subjugation.

Narrative: Adrien blinked twice at the small stack of cash in the bag. It must have been from a previous trip. He usually kept some around, because Gabriel had established early on he wasn't going to "coddle his child" and go back for (or pay for) anything that might have been forgotten before leaving on a trip.

Lyric: Treated like a worthless animal.

Narrative: "If you want to do adult work, you will learn adult responsibilities," he'd said. Never mind that he'd been the one pushing Adrien into modeling after Mama had the accident.

Lyric: Stripped of all rights, Just a lesser being.

Narrative: There was a little fuzziness at the edge of that memory, too. Adrien could remember the full-on panic attack he'd had when he forgot his passport and he'd thought he was going to have to explain to the customs agent what happened and hope it went well, but he couldn't remember whether it had actually happened.

Lyric: Crushed by cruel, ruthless human rule!

Narrative: Come to think of it, there had been more than a few times where he'd asked Father if he could not do something, even for a little bit, and the answer had been no, and he didn't remember much past that he'd felt upset at it.

Lyric: When it started, all we wanted was a chance to live our lives!

Narrative: And now it was too late for him to ask.

Not that he thought Father would have told him anything.

Tossing the last of his supplies into the bag, Adrien hefted it to make sure it wasn't so heavy it wouldn't slow him down if he had to run quickly.

Something in the back of his head suggested, in Marinette's voice, these were not normal thoughts for a child to have. His head-Marinette was probably right, but his childhood had never been normal. Normal kids probably didn't need to sneak out to have fun with their friends.

Chucking the bag underneath his bed, he turned off the lights and waited for Nathalie to come check on him. When she poked her head in, she saw Adrien curled up in bed, covers pulled up, looking for all the world like he's trying to get to sleep. A good child.

As soon as Nathalie's footsteps were no longer audible, Adrien sprang up, grabbing the bag and darting to the window to get out.

Lyric: Now in darkness, taking everything we want and we will rise.

Narrative: Normally, he'd transform into Chat Noir first, but there was nowhere near the house he could safely change back without being noticed.

Lyric: We'll rise

Narrative: He'd have to do this as Adrien. A step on his own, as himself.

Lyric: We'll rise

Narrative: Adrien got out the window without any trouble.

Getting down, he realized, would be a lot harder without Chat Noir's magic staff. Adrien hunted for a fire escape ladder, only to discover that rock climbing handholds had been cut and sculpted into the side of the mansion as his way down. _Good thing I’ve been practicing,_ Adrien thought as he found his way down. He'd hate to have to do that in any sort of actual emergency where someone couldn't spare the time to carefully find where their hands and feet should go.

Lyric: From shadows, we'll descend upon the world,

Narrative: He made a note to complain at Nathalie a lot about his health and safety until she has a proper set of escape structures installed.

Lyric: take back what you stole.

Narrative: Dropping to the ground, Adrien kept to the side of the house and made his way over toward the courtyard, knowing there would be a lot of open ground to cover before he could get to the wall and either climb over or get out through the gate.

Lyric: From shadows, we'll reclaim our destiny, set our future free.

Narrative: _This really would have been easier as Chat Noir_, Adrien thought.

Lyric: And we'll rise.

Narrative: Just as he was getting ready to run for the wall, the Gorilla rounded the corner of the house and stopped, staring right at Adrien.

Panic flooded Adrien's system as the Gorilla pulled out his phone and started typing.

Adrien’s phone vibrated in his pocket.

“You should answer that,” the Gorilla said, a smirk on his face.

Adrien pulled out his phone and reads the newest message.

> Nathalie changed my patrol schedule after the funeral. Read it, memorize it, destroy it. This time, I'll give you a pass, because you didn't know. Next time you try to sneak out and I catch you, though, game over.

Lyric: And we'll rise.

Narrative: “Why are you doing this?” Adrien asked, more confusion on his face than was necessary to make sure it was a question..

“Because you need friends,” the Gorilla replied.

Lyric: Above the darkness and the shame.

Narrative: “They're right outside, trying to find a good way in to get you. They're quite effective…for teenagers,” the Gorilla said, snorting.

Lyric: Above the torture and the pain.

Narrative: Adrien smiled and hugged the Gorilla.

“Can't keep them waiting,” he said, grinning, before dashing for the wall.

Lyric: Above the ridicule and hate.

Narrative: It was weird having so many people caring for him, Adrien thought as he climbed the wall. He was so used to having Father and Mama, and eventually Nathalie and the Gorilla, that the idea that others might be genuinely interested in him, rather than in his money and fame, was still odd.

Lyric: Above the binding of our fate.

Scene Change

* * *

Narrative: "You're sure?" Marinette said into the camera eye. "Adrien was really enthusiastic about getting to come tonight."

"Quite sure," Nathalie replied. "He complained of a headache and went to bed early."

So far, so good, Nino thought, as Alix and Kim continued to look for somewhere that might provide them with enough leverage to get over the tall wall. Marinette had taken to the task of trying to convince Nathalie to let Adrien out with fervor.

"Could we have a small visit with Adrien? I'm sure that setting his school friends would cheer him up immensely."

"No, Mlle. Dupain-Cheng. Adrien is not to be disturbed, and especially not by people who have improper designs on him."

Lyric: Call us liars,

Narrative: The video call cut out.

"Improper?" Marinette said. Nino couldn't tell whether she was about to cry or explode from that tone.

Lyric: degenerates, and killers.

Narrative: Marinette turned around and smiled sweetly at Nino and Alya.

"I'm going to go help Alix," she said. "I have a reputation to live down to." Marinette spotted some of the outside refuse cans and started dragging one over, pointing and gesturing at Alix and Kim to help get some of the other ones over.

Lyric: Psychos, heartless, insane criminals!

Narrative: "Babe," Nino said, "should I be worried at how well Marinette is handling this?"

"I don't know," Alya said. "I guess it depends on whether you think she's handling it well."

"Well, she's not freaking out about Adrien like she used to. She's not stuttering, she's not daydreaming, and she's pretty focused right now."

Lyric: Stupid mutts, and nothing but pure evil.

Narrative: Alya shrugged. "Might be the other side of the same coin."

Alix, Kim, and Marinette were dragging a large board toward what looked like a pyramid of cans. Marinette tripped on the curb, sending all three sprawling.

Lyric: Primal, bloodshed, that's all that's left to do.

Narrative: "Have you known Marinette to enable dangerous stunts?" Alya asked pointedly, before heading over to help everyone up.

Nino blinked. That was an excellent question.

Lyric: We're misguided.

Narrative: "We're going to get him out," Marinette was saying as he approached. "Alix, where should we put the ramp?"

"One problem, Marinette," Alix said. "Got to get out, too. I'm all for the stunt work, but the important part of a heist is getting away clean."

Marinette looked ready to say something else, but she nodded.

"You're right, Alix. If we got Adrien, he could probably unlock it for us, but that's a gamble." She sat down on the curb. "I wish Chat Noir were here. He could probably rescue Adrien for us." A few tears leaked from her face.

Alya sat down next to her. "Hey. What that bitch said wasn't true."

Lyric: Treated us like we're criminals and we should hide.

Narrative: "It was, Alya," Marinette said, sniffling. "Right until I realized what was happening with Adrien, I had the biggest crush on him."

"You and half of Paris, regardless of gender identity," Alix said, sitting down on the other side of Marinette. Behind Marinette's back, Alix gave Kim, Ivan, and Nino hand signals to keep building the contraption. Ivan and Kim both grinned at each other and picked up the board, leaving Nino behind entirely.

"Were you planning on exploiting him for his money?" Alix asked.

"What? No!" Marinette said.

"Better than his father. Did you want him as eye candy to parade on your arm?" Alya asked.

"No!"

"Better than Chloé," Alix said, picking up on the thread. "Were you planning on trapping him in a compromising situation and then blackmailing him for money?"

"_No!_"

"Better than some of his fans," Alya said. "Did you plan on removing any semblance of choice he has in his life and forcing him to do whatever you want?"

"Absolutely not." Marinette looked at Alya with horror.

"_Better than his father_," Alya and Alix chorused together.

"And better than the hypocrite who said he can't go." Alix added. "It's not you who should be worried, Marinette."

Lyric: Born indicted, tired of being pushed around and we will fly.

Narrative: Alix looked around and hopped up. "Ready to get going?"

"Is the ramp ready?" Marinette asked, confused.

"Nah," Alix replied. "But I think we're going to have to get ready to run soon."

Lyric: We'll fly.

Narrative: "Why do you say that?"

"Hey, everybody," Adrien said, waving as he came into sight. "What's going on?"

Lyric: We'll fly!

Narrative: "Right." Alya said, springing to her feet and helping Marinette to hers. "Time to go."

Lyric: From shadows, we'll descend upon the world!

Narrative: Alix and Kim kept an eye out for pursuit, Nino and Alya took the lead to pathfind, and Marinette and Ivan flanked Adrien, looking for threats from the sides. Swiftly but surely, the group made sure Adrien got to the event safely.

Lyric: From shadows, we'll reclaim our destiny!

Narrative: Once inside the school, Marinette locked the doors and breathed a sigh of relief as everyone else cheered Adrien's arrival. Time for the party to begin, she thought.

Adrien found Marinette later, sitting by herself in one of the hallways.

"Are you okay?" Adrien asked her.

"Do you have to go back?" she replied.

"I have work tomorrow," Adrien said, shrugging. "It wouldn't be good to stand up the photographer."

Marinette nodded. "You understand that if you need to leave, we will find a place for you. There's a spare room at the bakery. Alya has an extra couch to sleep on. I'm pretty sure Juleka and Luka would welcome you on the ship."

Adrien nodded. "That means a lot to me, Marinette. I don't know if I'll be able to take anyone up on the offer, but it's good to know who's on my side."

"_We're_ on your side," Marinette said forcefully.

"I can see that," Adrien said. "I don't know how many other people would bring their friends to break me out of my own house."

Marinette laughed sharply. "I don't know how many of my friends need breaking out of their own house. And it's definitely not normal that we're talking about this like it's something that happens all the time."

"People are looking for you," Adrien said. "Can we have fun for tonight, and then figure out what to do in the morning?"

Marinette looked at Adrien, studying him, weighing the benefits and the costs to letting it go for a night. Finally, she sighed and nodded.

"Will you promise me you'll talk to your therapist about it?" she asked him as they headed back toward the party.

"Easy promise," Adrien said. "We're already talking about it."

"Good," Marinette said, straightening up and putting on a smile. "Have fun tonight."

"You, too."


	8. Divide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathalie has discovered Adrien is gone, and Hawkmoth will tear apart the city and enlist anyone she needs to find him. Ladybug and Hawkmoth both let slip who they are, and we find the reason that Ladybug committed murder.

Narrative: The akuma alert sounded right after Marinette handed Max a double-flawless defeat at Ultimate Mecha Strike III for the finals of their lock-in video game tournament.

"Okay, everybody, you know the drill by now," Mme. Bustier said. "Find the shelter, watch for purple butterflies, stick with your partners."

Adrien watched the students grumble, but let themselves be herded toward the shelter space. Even though they all knew nothing really stopped a purple butterfly when it was on the way, they still needed something solid in case an akuma decided property damage was on their agenda. Not for the first time did Adrien wonder what school would be like without the constant threat of mass violence. Or without having to develop the skill of disappearing from a group so that he could go save the city.

Ladybug met him not that far away from the school.

"Just when things were getting good," she grumbled. "Let's make quick work of this akuma."

Turning a corner, Ladybug stopped abruptly. Avoiding the collision, Chat blanched at what was in front of him.

"AAAAAADRIENNNN," the mummies moaned, slowly advancing on them.

"I suppose 'I don't want my mummy' is a bad thing to say right now," Chat quipped.

Ladybug scowled.

"Where's Pharaoh?" she said. "He's usually very close to his mummies."

"I don't think we want to stay here long enough to find out, my Lady," Chat said. "Maybe a rooftop view would help?"

Ladybug nodded and swung up.

"AAAAADRIENNN," the mummies said again, moving much faster than before.

What did the mummies want with him? he thought.

Springing up onto the rooftop with Ladybug, Chat assessed the situation. Several of the streets were blocked with mummies. Unless Pharaoh poked his head above the crowd, it would be impossible to spot him.

The mummies sounded louder than before. One appeared at the top of the fire escape for the building.

"Uh, my Lady?" he said. "We need to move!"

"They're much faster than before," she said as they traversed the rooftops.

"I don't think so," Chat replied. "I think there's more, though, so we don't have as much time as we think to plan and fight."

"Pharaoh has to be around somewhere," she said. "I think I saw a flash of wings somewhere over there."

"Which is conveniently the direction with the least amount of visible mummies," Chat pointed out. "I smell a rat, and I don't mean an akumatized M. Ramier."

We'll have to keep our eyes and ears sharp," Ladybug said. "I agree with you that it's suspicious, but I don't see what choice we have."

Mummies appeared on their rooftop, forcing Ladybug and Chat Noir to continue on the path being laid out in front of them. Around them, yet more mummies seemed to appear, all of them calling for Adrien.

Upon arriving at the football stadium, Ladybug let out a small cry upon seeing a massed army of Darkblade and his knights waiting for them.

"I didn't know Paris had that many people out this late," Chat Noir said. Scanning the space around them, he grimaced. "Between the mummies and the knights, we're penned in, my Lady, so I think we can safely call this deadly ground."

"We'll have to focus on breaking the akumas, so they can't make more victims to send after us."

"Ladybug! Chat Noir! Tell us where Adrien Agreste is!" Pharaoh boomed from above the mummy army. "He is to be sacrificed to the gods for his disobedience!"

"I will find Adrien Agreste!" Darkblade countered. "He is the final thing before my glorious reign over Paris can begin!"

Ladybug and Chat Noir exchanged glances.

"We don't know where Adrien is," Chat Noir shouted back. "And if we did, we wouldn't be telling, now would we?"

Any further thoughts Chat had on the matter were lost to the roar as knights and mummies charged the two heroes. They could hold them off, but the arena was far too open of ground to do it for long. They needed to close off some avenues of attack.

Before he could think about getting higher ground, a flash from across the field drew his attention.

"My Lady, behind you!" he shouted, desperately hoping to intercept Darkblade's sword before it found the target.

His Lady, ever a vision of grace under pressure, pulled a sword from its knight and threw it behind her. Darkblade deflected the sword, which gave Chat enough time to intercept the follow-up attack and drive Darkblade back.

Ladybug didn't usually exercise so little care with potentially lethal objects around the akumatized. And she hadn't even looked to see what was coming. As if she were expecting someone else to be there trying to sneak attack her instead of Darkblade, and she didn't really care whether they lived or died.

Ladybug had killed Father. He'd thought she'd been akumatized when she did it, but she seemed perfectly lucid throwing that sword.

Now that he looked at her, Ladybug didn't have her usual buoyant nature in fighting. She was murderously efficient at keeping everything away from her, without flash or embellishment of any kind. It wasn't fun to fight akumas or their minions, but there was at least a little spark in there for saving Paris.

He wasn't sure when the tenor of the battle had changed, but when he realized he hadn't been attacked in a while, Chat Noir turned his attention back toward the other end of the football field.

Hawkmoth had arrived.

"I'm only going to ask once," he said, projecting across the pitch. "Where's Adrien?"

"We wouldn't tell you if we knew," Ladybug called back.

Lyric: Does it feel good? Knowing you tried?

Narrative: "I think you will," Hawkmoth replied. He sounded different, though. Maybe he was sick? "Adrien Agreste should be at home, sleeping. His guardian is so worried, she made a tempting target for my akuma. And she enlisted some friends to help her search. If you don't give up Adrien, and your Miraculous, then I'll keep akumatizing Paris until you do!"

Lyric: Knowing that all that remains is the slow, cold, _brutal_ death of the fools that will all die in vain?

Narrative: "Is it me, or is that an oddly specific use of akumas?" Chat Noir asked Ladybug.

"I don't know. I never thought of Hawkmoth as a good parent," Ladybug replied. "I certainly don't have any reason to start now."

"I can't imagine Hawkmoth as someone who would bother with parenting," Chat said. "More pressing, my Lady, are the two armies working against us. Should we call in some backup?"

"No time," she said. "But I'm very confident you can draw everyone's attention to help our cause."

"And how would that work, my Lady?"

"You look a little like Adrien Agreste," she told him. "You could pretend to be him."

Chat kept his mouth firmly closed to prevent himself from laughing. "I think it's a purrfect plan," he said. "But do we want Adrien to suffer the same problems Queen Bee does?"

Lyric: How does it feel, knowing your efforts will fail?

Narrative: Ladybug's face fell. "You're right," she said sadly. "That would be cruel, and I'm sorry I thought about it. Adrien doesn't deserve that, not when he needs to heal."

Lyric: All that you've built will be torn down, the hope of your people assailed.

Narrative: "There's a good idea close by, though, my Lady," Chat Noir said. He extended his pole up to get greater shouting range. "Thanks for telling me where Adrien is!" he faux-carelessly bellowed.

As he expected, the reaction was immediate. Knights, mummies, and their respective controlling akuma converged on him.

Lyric: Send your guardians, they will fail.

Narrative: He laughed, vaulting with his pole and leading them on a chase away from Ladybug and Hawkmoth.

"Hey, Bride-of-Hawkmoth!" he heard Ladybug call when he was far away from her. "It's not too late to surrender. If you're afraid, you can give up and walk away."

Lyric: Legends and heroes will crumble and fall. You will not prevail!

Narrative: That was new. And weird. His Lady didn't sling insults like that. She'd made it a point to record video for the Ladyblog about respecting identities and presentations.

Darkblade and Pharaoh tried to pincer him between themselves, forcing him to dance over the rooftops.

Lyric: When allied together, a threat men display.

Narrative: "You know," he said, ducking a blast and a slash, "she only told me I could tell _one_ of you where Adrien was."

_There was no way they would fall for that_, he thought.

Pharaoh and Darkblade looked at each other, then back at him.

"You should tell me," they both said.

_Then again…_

Lyric: Divide them with doubt. It will all wash away.

Narrative: "Or you could tell us both," Darkblade added.

Lyric: One spark can incite their hope.

Narrative: "It was worth trying," he said, shrugging. "And look! You're both here so I can say what I wanted to."

"Which is?"

Lyric: And ignite the hearts of their weary souls.

Narrative: He grinned brightly, then grabbed Pharaoh's amulet and Darkblade's sword and started running away from them.

"Yoink!" he yelled as he made ground for Ladybug.

Lyric: I will extinguish that flame!

Narrative: He heard the sounds of fighting as he drew nearer. Before he could see how it was going, Ladybug sprang back from Hawkmoth to land by his side.

"Look what the cat dragged in, my Lady," he said.

"Good kitty," she said. "Let's get rid of the army and see how Hawkmoth likes fighting alone."

"Gladly, my Lady," Chat said, placing both objects in his right hand.

"Oh, but don't you know?" Hawkmoth said, coming into view, surrounded by at least six purple fluttering butterflies. "I never have to fight alone. Not any more."

For a few moments, nobody moved or spoke, before Ladybug broke the silence by laughing.

"Oh, that was supposed to be intimidating!" she said, her voice saturated with sarcasm. "Go ahead, chaton, Cataclysm them. Hawkmoth doesn't scare me."

She seemed ready to say something more, as the Cataclysm worked its way across the artifacts. As each one fluttered away, she caught it and purified it.

No "Bye-bye, pretty butterfly." Something was very wrong here. Was she humming? Before that thought could go particularly far, his Lady started _singing_.

"Call the revels, far and wide,  
Lyric: Form your armies, dream your dreams.  
Narrative: Blood-dewed halls await inside.  
Lyric: Make your plans and plot your schemes.  
Narrative: Send your a-ku-mas, one and all!  
Lyric: Send your fighters, one and all!  
Narrative: Then in battle, watch."  
Lyric: Then in battle, watch

Narrative: Ladybug's yo-yo snaked out and grabbed one of the akuma flying near Hawkmoth's head, purifying it in her yo-yo with a satisfying snap.

"Them."  
Lyric: them  


Narrative: Snap. Another akuma meet the same fate.

"FALL!"  
Lyric: fall!  


Narrative: Chat wasn't sure what to think about that. His first instinct would be to worry about his Lady's mental stability, except there was one piece of evidence suggesting Ladybug was just fine.

Hawkmoth's cloud hadn't moved. If Ladybug had done this in any state of mind conducive to a purple butterfly, they'd be playing Whack-A-Kuma right now.

Chat looked at his Lady, confused, as new information asserted itself. There might be another plausible reason why there weren't any purple butterflies on the move. Hawkmoth might be _afraid_.

Hawkmoth unsheathed his sword from the cane. Ladybug purified another akuma.

"If you plan on fighting me, be ready to die," Hawkmoth said, but he didn't sound as confident as he usually did. Come to look at him, he didn't look like himself, either. Slimmer and more feminine in his presentation, but still immaculately tailored, even to the new body shape.

"I thought death would have stopped _you_, but here we are," Ladybug returned, snapping up another butterfly.

Lyric: It was you who ended their lives, made them to dig their own graves.

Narrative: "I am protecting the world from **_you_**, murderer!" Hawkmoth growled. "Everything I do is to protect these people from a liar and a killer!"

Lyric: With your dark, sick, cruel design; convinced them their world could be saved.

Narrative: "By taking away their will and sending them out to destroy everything? That's hardly heroic," Ladybug snarled.

Lyric: Have you no shame? Signing them up for your war! Train them to fight what they can't beat.

Narrative: Hawkmoth charged. Chat stepped in and blocked the strike. Ladybug stepped around him and delivered a punch in the direction of Hawkmoth's face, who barely dodged and retreated to maintain space between them.

Ladybug took the opportunity to purify another akuma that had been slow in retreating. Chat's ring beeped urgently at him.

"Go," Ladybug said, turning to him. "Recharge. Come back. We'll still be here. Unless Hawkmoth runs away."

Lyric: _Your_ sins are what they'll pay for.

Narrative: That seemed unwise, but unless he wanted Hawkmoth knowing he was Adrien Agreste, he needed to make a tactical retreat. Spotting nearby cover, he ran, looking behind him to see if Hawkmoth followed.

Hawkmoth lunged at Ladybug, attempting to take advantage of her apparent distraction, but she pivoted on one foot, dodging the slash entirely before delivering a roundhouse kick to the back of Hawkmoth's head, sending him to the pitch.

"How many more?" Ladybug asked, her yo-yo collecting the last of Hawkmoth's akuma reserves. "How many more lives do you intend to ruin?"

Lyric: Sacrifice them for your needs.

Narrative: "As many as it takes," Hawkmoth said, as Chat bolted into the players' tunnel.

"Claws in," Adrien said, before grabbing a wedge of cheese and holding it out for Plagg. "We have to hurry, Plagg. I don't think I've ever seen her like this."

"Like what?" Plagg asked between mouthfuls.

"Like she's going to kill again."

Lyric: Slaughter is coming, the end drawing near.

Narrative: "Couldn't happen to a nicer person," Plagg deadpanned. "Hawkmoth deserves every bit of dying painfully. A good Cataclysm to the face would help that goal a lot."

Lyric: You'll regret your deeds.

Narrative: "Claws out!" Adrien whispered, cutting off the argument. He rushed out of the players' tunnel to watch Hawkmoth thrust past Ladybug and catch an elbow to the face in return.

Sloppy technique, his brain helpfully informed him as he tried to cover the distance quickly. Except Hawkmoth had never fought this poorly before, displaying a mastery of the sword and its sheath when facing them before.

Lyric: Legends and fairy tales, scattered in time.

Narrative: "You're not a hero!" Hawkmoth shouted, as he picked himself up off the ground. His voice was noticeably higher than it had been before. "You lost your temper and killed an innocent man!"

Lyric: Maidens and kingdoms, wrapped up in a lie.

Narrative: "He was never innocent!" Ladybug shouted back.

"The people of Paris know you're a murderer!" Hawkmoth crowed. "Every one of your hero friends will turn on you, will fight you, because you killed Gabriel Agreste in cold blood!"

Lyric: These children you mislead, you'll watch them all bleed!

Narrative: Hawkmoth lunged again, but his attack was countered with an axe kick to the face.

Continuing in the vein of things that weren't useful, his brain told him he'd seen that pose before. Not Hawkmoth, but his Lady's form. Alya. A video of Marinette trying to stress-test an athletic design by (slowly) mimicking some wuxia film they'd been watching together.

In the video, Marinette had set her foot down, turned, and held a reasonably good side kick for Alya to look at the fabric with.

Conclusions were rising to his consciousness that he desperately did not want to think about in the middle of battle.

Ladybug's foot pivoted, Hawkmoth flew. There wasn't any way he could mistake that side kick for anybody else.

Lyric: Strength will not bring victory.

Narrative: "He akumatized his own son!" Ladybug roared. "Gabriel Agreste deserves to burn in Hell just for that, not to mention his other crimes!"

Marinette was Ladybug.

His father was Hawkmoth.

Ladybug killed Hawkmoth.

Marinette had killed his father.

`segfault at 6861776b6d6f7468 ip 6c616479627567 sp 6368696c64686f6f64 error 4 at chatnoir.service`

"Hello, Phénix," Nathalie's voice said to him some unknown amount of time later. "I am Hawkmoth. I'll help you sort out your confusion. All I ask in return is that you get Ladybug's Miraculous from her. By any means necessary."

Lyric: Divide them! Tear them apart! Sever their trust, it will strangle their hearts!

Narrative: Hawkmoth clearly didn't know why Chat Noir was confused, or she wouldn't be touching him with an akuma.

"What do you say?" she continued. "You can stop a dangerous villain from terrorizing Paris and bring her to justice."

Lyric: Inside them, plant seeds of doubt.

Narrative: Well, she hadn't actually lied to him at this point. It was all rather convincing to him, really. Just accept the power on offer and let Ladybug handle the consequences.

Lyric: Hope will be smothered. They'll turn on each other.

Narrative: "It will be the work of a moment. You'll get revenge on the one who wronged you, and then I can wish everything back to the way it was."

Lyric: Hatred will sprout; Suspicion and doubt.

Narrative: "You'll have a perfect family again."

Lyric: Friendships deny while allegiances die.

Narrative:  `sudo systemctl restart chatnoir`

He opened his eyes. That was the missing piece from all of those fragments of his memories. Why he had always been afraid of Father, even though he'd never done more than raise his voice at Adrien. Those flickers at the edge of his perception were the flapping of small purple wings. And, of course, because akuma victims suffered short-term memory loss, he'd never questioned whatever excuse had been provided to him for the gap in his memory.

" 'And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the life of the gay,' " he quoted. " 'And the flames of the tripods expired. And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.' "

Lyric: The taste will be sweet when you get what you've earned.

Narrative: He summoned the power that Hawkmoth had given him, honing and focusing it into a single intent, and merging it with Plagg's destructive capabilities.

"Hello," he said, looking at the battlefield before him. Ladybug looked distressed, Hawkmoth triumphant. "My name is Phénix. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

He snapped his fingers.

Lyric: And I'll watch you **_burn_**.


	9. It's My Turn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The triumphant (for certain values of) final chapter where Adrien finds himself in need of competent help. And a legal guardian. And he finally gets to say what he's always wanted to Gabriel.

Narrative: When he woke up, his head still ached.

"Glad you're still here with us, Chat Noir," Ladybug said, obvious relief on her face.

"Is the akuma gone?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Hawkmoth?"

"Nooroo says hello and thank you."

"Nooroo, huh? Never would have guessed. When I stop feeling like a bullet train is running nonstop service inside my skull, we should talk."

She nodded again. Her earrings chirped a warning at her.

"You know how to get a hold of me," she said, and swung away.

He stood up, gingerly putting weight on very sore legs. His baton informed him that there were still several hours before the end of the lock-in, so that was the place he should go.

Slowly, he made his way back, prodding his brain to see if it had anything new to inform him about.

His brain suggested to go find Marinette and talk to her. Another Miraculous Cure might help him heal.

Except Miraculous Cure only ever healed physical things. There were plenty of things that got forgotten when an akuma was destroyed, but that didn't mean they got fixed.

He sighed. Nathalie had been Hawkmoth. Which probably meant she had been Mayura before that. Which probably meant there was another Miraculous somewhere in the mansion to be found. That probably couldn't wait, as much as he wanted to lie down and take a nap for a year and see what the world was like then.

It didn't take long to sneak back in and rejoin the others. The lie of deciding to shelter in the bathroom rolled off his tongue just as easily as all the other lies he'd told. He got something to drink, and something else to eat, and headed out into the hall to contemplate what happened next.

"You smell of brimstone," Marinette said, wrinkling her nose at him.

"Really?" he asked.

"No," she said. "But thank you for confirming for me, Phénix."

He slumped to the floor. "I was supposed to do that to you. Like asking you 'And how is Nooroo?' in the middle of a bunch of other questions. What gave me away?"

"You were extremely explicit about the identity of Hawkmoth 2.0," she replied. "I'm going to have nightmares about it for weeks. At least Hawkmoth won't be around to try and take advantage of it."

Marinette clapped her hands over her mouth. "I'm sorry. That's not very supportive of me," she said. "You're the one at the center of the rings."

"I suppose," he said.

"Well, in the grand scheme of everything, being worried I was going to have to fight my akumatized partner isn't that terrible. After all, I have a little practice at doing that successfully," she said. A chuckle that usually heralded panic escaped her.

"I suppose it doesn't compare to finding out the girl who has been supportive of you getting out of a bad situation is also your partner who murdered your father because he abused you, akuma-ly and mentally. And then murdering his personal assistant because she did the same thing to you," Adrien said. "When I put it that way, it sounds ridiculous."

Lyric: When I was young, if I just closed my eyes, then I could go anywhere.

Narrative: "Not really," Marinette said, sitting down next to him. "Or, I suppose, not really to the people who have had to deal with akuma for years."

Lyric: Dream of any place.

Narrative: "I…I don't know what to think. It was easier not knowing. Believing in the possibility that I might be able to make us happy again."

Lyric: Imagination set the pace, and my heart was happy there.

Narrative: Marinette nodded. "It's hard to let go. You want to believe that if you just try hard enough, you can make things better again."

Lyric: What a shame that you came round and told me, said my dreams can't come true.

Narrative: "He was my father. He was supposed to love me and support me. And instead…"

Lyric: "Don't be foolish. Give up your wish. Big things aren't for you."

Narrative: "He wanted you to become what he wanted, and nothing else. And when you didn't, he took advantage of that, too, and akumatized you," Marinette said. "It's not your fault. None of it is your fault."

Lyric: And how you'd scold and chide me, forever criticize me.

Narrative: Adrien shook his head. "It's one thing to say that in your head, or to parrot it to your therapist so they think you're making progress. It's something else to believe it enough that it might be true."

Lyric: But now I think I know the truth.

Narrative: "Even when it is true?" Marinette asked him.

"Especially when it is true," Adrien replied. "I feel like I should have been able to do more."

Lyric: You were the one who held me down and told me I was heading nowhere.

Narrative: Marinette snapped off a string of Wenzhounese. Just from the heat involved in saying it, Adrien felt like his ears should burn.

"Care to translate?" he asked.

"Go look up a page on Mandarin profanity and pick whichever ones apply to your recently-deceased father and his personal assistant, especially the ones about being shameless."

Lyric: You said, "Know your place. Accept your fate and show good face, and be thankful that you're there."

Narrative: "Thanks. I still feel like I should have been stronger, or better, or realized what was happening and made him stop."

"You were a child, Adrien."

"Technically, I'm still a child."

"And Gabriel was supposed to be an adult. If your child is going to seriously hurt someone, a _responsible adult_ will step in and stop them. Gabriel would let you hurt yourself, and then use that pain to hurt you more."

Lyric: That was so long ago when you owned me. I believed it was true.

Narrative: "Let me guess," Marinette continued. "When you came to, after you'd been akumatized, he'd blame what happened on you and berate you more for not remembering what he said you did. He told you your rage blackouts were dangerous—"

"—and I needed to do what he said and stay close to him, because I was dangerous and he couldn't protect me if I couldn't control it. _Bastardo. Pezzo di merda. **Figlio di puttana!**_"

Lyric: Bend me, shape me, build me, break me. Why was I your fool?

Narrative: "I feel so stupid. Why didn't I figure it out earlier?" Adrien said, shaking his head.

"Because, despite how much he didn't earn it or deserve it, you loved him," Marinette said. "Everything I've read says abusers are hard to get away from because they're good at making people believe lies and they turn other people's love into a weapon against them."

Alya and Nino poked their heads out the door.

"There you two are!" Alya said. "Come back inside! You're making everybody nervous. We already had one akuma tonight."

Marinette and Adrien both laughed nervously.

"Coming?" Marinette said, extending her hand to Adrien.

Lyric: And now I'm so much stronger! I'm not yours any longer! I've got a message here for you:

Narrative: A multitude of impressions ran through Adrien. The worry of betrayal. The unshakeable knowledge that Marinette had killed for him, and he had done the same for her. An echo of his father, telling him that nobody else could be trusted.

The look on Nathalie's face when she realized what was happening.

Lyric: Time for you to learn: It's my turn.

Narrative: Was this a good decision?

"Yeah," Adrien said, clasping Marinette's hand and letting her help him up.

Lyric: I won't be held down any longer. I've waited all my life, and finally it's here.

Narrative: The rest of the night passed peacefully. As much as it could, anyway, when Alix and Kim were egging each other on to perform increasingly dangerous stunts while Mme. Bustier was looking the other way.

Lyric: It all begins. A chance to win.

Narrative: The Gorilla met him with the car in the morning, a worried look on his face.

“Nathalie's missing. She went out earlier this morning and she hasn't come back.”

“Did you tell her where I was?” Adrien inquired.

“She didn't come to see me,” the Gorilla replied, showing his clear aggravation at the slight. “She wasn't in bed this morning when coffee was ready.”

“Maybe she went to Father's grave?” Adrien suggested.

The Gorilla considered it, and then nodded. “Is that where **you** want to go?” he asked, giving Adrien a pointed look and moving the signs toward him.

Adrien didn't hesitate. “Yes.”

The Gorilla nodded again. “Get in,” he indicated, gesturing to the car.

Lyric: A dream that's been a lifetime, an endless vast uphill climb. The day I've waited for is drawing near.

Narrative: There was breakfast in the car. Adrien planned on eating it quickly, but one bite of the croque-monsieur convinced him it was to be savored.

The Gorilla had _made it for him_. Nothing against the shops, or the house chef, but they would never have let the overstuffed sandwich outside the kitchen in that state. It was delicious, well-made, and the care that had gone into it made everything better.

The Gorilla got out to look for Nathalie first. When he waved Adrien on, Adrien smiled a thank you and headed for Gabriel's crypt.

Lyric: Hey! Wait! Turn and show your face!  
I've got a lot to say, and you're not going anywhere.

Narrative: Loving husband and father, said the epitaph.

"Even in death, you couldn't resist self-aggrandizing bullshit," Adrien said quietly, shaking his head. "Hello, Father."

Lyric: You lose; the time you ruled me's through.

Narrative: Checking to make sure the Gorilla was out of hearing range, Adrien continued, "I hope that wherever Mama is, she's far away from you. Nathalie, too. They both devoted themselves to you, and you…you were a monster."

Lyric: I'm in control, I own my soul, and I'll never go back there!

Narrative: "What kind of sick fuck looks at a child and only sees a weapon to be used against others?" Adrien hissed. "And how much worse is it that you did this to _your son_? No, wait, scratch that. Was I ever your son, really? Or was I just convenient to keep around so you didn't have to find other children to hurt?"

Lyric: Wasted years that I spent never knowing. I was kept, I was used.

Narrative: "I'll bet you're regretting letting me go to school now, because if I hadn't, then none of this would have happened. Your whole plan for me ruined because I might have wanted someone _other than you_ in my life as a friend."

Lyric: Never-ending, condescending. Now I just refuse.

Narrative: "And you know what's the worst thing about all of this? I'm telling this to your grave rather than to your face. You see, when I—when Phénix—destroyed Hawkmoth, I realized something."

Lyric: I don't care what it costs me.  
I know I almost lost me.  
Won't spend another day confused.

Narrative: "I'm always going to be thankful to Marinette and jealous of Ladybug. Because Marinette supported me against you, and because _Ladybug got to you first_."

Lyric: You rose, I fell.  
Made my life hell.

Narrative: "I realize this doesn't make me the pious son you were hoping might come along with Mr. Chen's Mandarin lessons, but, well, it was always going to be a question of which of us killed the other first, I guess."

Lyric: Anything to crush my soul.

Narrative: "You probably would have arranged for me to have an ‘accident’ with an akuma attack, or made me into an akuma that Ladybug would have had to kill to take the butterfly out."

Lyric: Anything to feel control.

Narrative: "And my therapist would have a field day if they heard any of this. That I even entertain the notion that you would try to kill me if I tried to get away is probably a year's worth of sessions all by itself. Not that I could tell them 'My father was the greatest terrorist inflicted upon Paris, and several other places as well' so they would understand the context."

Lyric: Finally free, I've come so far.  
Finally see how sick you are.

Narrative: The Gorilla popped back into view, frowning.

“Nathalie's not here. No akuma.” His hands had no wasted motion. It was more of a military-style report than a conversation.

“That's a relief,” Adrien signed back, before realizing what he was suggesting. Looking chagrined, he waved off his last statement. “That there's no akuma, that is. I'm almost done here. Will you wait for me at the car?”

The Gorilla nodded.

“Take your time.”

Adrien smiled and turned back to the tomb.

"I don't have much time left, so understand this: This will be the _last_ time I ever visit here as a dutiful son. If I ever have to come back, I will make sure that I personally piss on your grave when nobody's looking."

Lyric: I spent my life degraded, but I won't leave here jaded. I'll start again and finally prove:

Narrative: "It'll be a nice ritual between Marinette and I, Father. I know I'm not in any sort of right mind to think about dating right now, but when I am, I think I might see if she would enjoy capping off a romantic first date by getting to tell you what she honestly thinks of you, now that you can't retaliate.

"Goodbye, Father. I say this with all the love I can muster between a son and his papa: Vai a farti fottere."

Lyric: Time for you to learn: It's my turn.

Narrative: Adrien headed back to the car.

Lyric: I won't be held down any longer. I've waited all my life and finally it's here.

Narrative: “I don't want to invite trouble,” he waved at the Gorilla, putting on his best worried face as he approached, “but what happens if we can't find Nathalie?”

“We'll figure that out when it happens,” the Gorilla replied. “Right now, you should be heading home to sleep. When your head is clear and you're rested, we can talk about options.”

The Gorilla pointedly cut off any further reply by getting into the car.

Lyric: It all begins: A chance to win, a dream that's been a lifetime, an endless vast uphill climb.

Narrative: Adrien slid into the back seat, several questions registering in his brain that would need to be worked on. What would happen with the company? Where was Mayura's Miraculous? And…who would be his legal guardian? Gabriel was dead, Mama probably was as well, and Nathalie probably would have been appointed his guardian, had she not decided to replicate Gabriel Agreste's poor life choices. As far as he knew, he didn't have any other relatives. And while Nino and Marinette had offered, there would be a lot of tongues wagging and tabloids writing about Adrien crashing with friends. They might assume his friends were just trying to get at the Agreste businesses. He couldn't subject his friends to that.

Sleep did sound good right now. And maybe another one of those croque-monsieurs. Definitely another one of those croque-monsieurs. After that, he could start to truly deal with the legacy of Gabriel Agreste.

Lyric: The day I've waited for is drawing near.

Narrative: The car pulled away from the cemetery, taking Adrien into his future.


End file.
